


Who Said Life Isn't Like the Movies?

by dirtieedee



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternative Universe - No Island, F/F, F/M, Nanny!Felicity, Oliver has a daughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-06-04 20:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 36,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6673798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirtieedee/pseuds/dirtieedee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thirteen years old is far too young for Vivian Queen to experience a nervous breakdown, but that's where she's headed. When faced with the realization that her "Nanny" (for lack of a better term), Felicity, will eventually leave her, Vivian knows that it's her job to push her dad and Felicity together, and change Nanny to Mom. With the chemistry so obvious and the love for Viv so strong, she expects this to be a fun and creative adventure- at least, that's the way it always is in the movies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. While Dad's Away, Viv Will Contemplate His Love Life.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, this is simultaneously daunting and exciting, but this is my first multi-chapter attempt! I appreciate the risk you took clicking this story link and thank you for giving me a chance :) I hope you enjoy it!

Vivian Elise Queen is no fool.

She's not some naïve damsel, timid and shy, and all those other things Liesel von Trapp sung about. And frankly, people assuming that about her need to take a flying leap into this century.

Let the record state, however, that she realizes she sounds like the petulant teenager she may, or may not be at times. Hormones have really taken a toll on her the last year and a half, and it's bound to get worse.

The point remains that Viv is not stupid. She is intelligent and perceptive. All A's on her report cards and not a single detention. Well, not a single detention was handed to her. Being able to cover her tracks enough to be found innocent on potential detention charges is a different story.

She knows about her father's past. The typical billionaire playboy whose Ten Commandments of living included honoring Jägermeister, sex, and drugs, but surprisingly not rock'n'roll. He was more of the EDM, house, rave, or “Wherever Glow Sticks and Laser Lights are Sold,” kind of guy.

 She knows about her conception: Inebriated teenagers with zero birth control. She even knew of the lies surrounding her creation. Her dad was "dating" Laurel at the time. And perhaps even Sara too. It's a modern age, one where Google is a verb and spoiled heirs to multi-billion dollar corporations are seen as entertainment. Instead of battling lions, and chariot races, onlookers watch as these modern gladiators enter the arena of a charity gala- battling themselves, other trust find babies, and occasionally urinating on a cop car. These spectacles have been immortalized thanks to the World Wide Web, and are only a click away from an inquisitive little girl with a father everyone thinks they know.

 Vivian probably knows more about her father’s partying days than he does at this point. She would secretly search through gossip sites and even “sophisticated” broadcasting pages that would try to outdo each other with what they must assume is witty and captivating titles. There are only so many times, “Ollie Queen’s Royal Blood Alcohol Level” can be used before you no longer see it as clever.

 She never shied away from asking him questions about his youth. The older she got, the more comfortable he became with telling her about his misguided younger years as a warning of what to never become.

Despite her father's rugged- to say the least- past, she adores him. If the gladiator metaphor seemed a bit outlandish, remember - this is her father. The man whose shoulders she sat on. The killer of under the bed monsters. The man who never went to bed without kissing her goodnight. She is more than familiar with the articles and the videos, but none of that is the man who sat for tea parties or could differentiate between the whistles of Thomas the Tank Engine and James.

Vivian also knows about her mother, whose main loves of life were fast cars, and cocaine. Claire Miller really hit the jackpot with Oliver Queen. She knows about how Claire died in a car crash when she was an infant. She has seen the picture of the white Audi wrapped around a tree and the mentions of the drugs that were in her mother's bloodstream. She mourns a woman she can’t remember but owes her life to, even if the gossip sites wrote similar articles with somewhat powerful evidence of Claire using Vivian as leverage in getting a piece of the Queen fortune. Oliver was always careful when speaking about Claire, not wanting to drag the name of the woman who gave him the most precious gift of a child, while also not wanting to lie to his curious little girl. Vivian herself shied away from the “Mother” conversation, not wishing to hurt herself with the confirmation of painful assumptions she made about a woman she never met. She was satisfied enough with the information she did know.

The list hard facts of life and useless trivia that Vivian acquired over her 13 years was growing larger every day, but what always managed to allude her was how her father and her nanny/tutor/cheerleader/anything/and everything Felicity Smoak were _not_ a couple.

The touches, the glances, the finishing each other's sentences, even the “co-parenting” all pointed to two people who would prosper at being in a relationship. Vivian often questioned their status when her father was away on business, surprisingly enough. She always felt that she and Felicity both bonded better while her father was gone, each seeking comfort from the other while he was away.

They would lounge around (like they were doing now), watching movies and stuffing themselves with the holy trio of junk food: popcorn, chocolate, and ice cream.

Vivian was jolted out of her thoughts by Felicity gently rubbing her arm and asking her in that soft and soothing tone of hers if she was okay. Vivian's face must have betrayed her. She was supposed to be watching the movie whose title escaped her at the moment, not seriously contemplating her father and Felicity's relationship.

"I'm fine," she told her with a smile she hoped looked honest. Felicity's frown told her all she needed to know about what her face actually looked like. Probably the same face her father wears during stupid galas.

Felicity nodded and returned her gaze to the television, but Vivian knew from the fuchsia lip hidden between Felicity’s teeth that she alerted the firewall. 

They sat in silence until Felicity spoke up, her eyes unfocused in the direction of the movie neither was watching.

"Vivian," she started, sighing and finally meeting Vivian's eyes. "I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything."

Vivian braced herself for some version of the sex talk. She must have zoned out thinking about her father's lack of a relationship while the movie played a love scene.

"I know you have Thea, and Laurel, and Sara and Nyssa when they're not busy collecting ink on their passports. Not that I think that's all they're doing. They're exploring, and starting adventures together, and enjoying the splendors of the world. And," At this she drops her gaze and rubs her forehead, mumbling, "Ugh where was I going with this?"

Vivian smiled and offered her some guidance. "I know I can always talk to you Liss. But I'm only thirteen. You have at least two more years until I turn broody and only talk to you when asking which black paint is best for my walls."

Felicity gave a bright smile, "And thank Google for that. I need to stockpile my peroxide before you start that up. Grey would do nothing but flush me out."

Vivian giggled at that, imagining Felicity grumpily cursing her in the most loving way possible while bleaching her hair.

Felicity rubbed Vivian's arm again; apparently ready to make her original point without babbling off topic. "I'm just saying, that when you're older, I don't want you to think that you can't talk to me just because I'm not around."

Vivian rolled her eyes, not giving too much thought about what Felicity was trying to say. "And where would you be? A secret bunker for guardians of teenagers with all of the feels?"

She laughed at her own joke until she realized that Felicity was not laughing along. Vivian searched the blonde's face only to notice a wistful smile that set in panic.

"Viv," she stated slowly and quietly, not at all abating Vivian's anxiety, "you're not always going to need me."

Vivian sat herself closer to Felicity, grasping her hands. "Of course I will. You can't leave me. Who would coach me on hacking? Who would I eat mint chocolate chip with at one in the morning? Who would I talk to about how these shitty -"

"This is what I'm trying to tell you. And watch the language," she admonished while bringing Vivian to her chest. "You'll always be able to talk to me. You're growing up Viv. You're not going to need me in the same ways you do now."

At her doubtful face, Felicity smirked. "When your dad hired me it was mostly to ensure you weren't burning the house down while he was at work."

Vivian pushed herself from Felicity's arms. "Is that what it will take to make sure you don't leave? Will I have to commit arson?" Her arms were flying around now, clearly agitated. "I'm not sure how Captain Lance will feel about that. Sometimes he looks at me when I'm just thinking of kicking over a table or something at the stupid galas and it's like he knows what's going on in my head! It's not a crime I could get away with- I know my limits! He won't believe that I forgot to close the oven." She turned to Felicity with tears in her eyes, and in a hitched voice said, "Felicity, you can't leave me."

Felicity hugged her tightly again, resting her chin on the young girl's head. She spoke in a soothing voice, slowly rocking, "Hey. It's not happening tomorrow. This little meltdown is more than enough proof of that. You're not ready. But then again you might not ever feel like you're ready if we're being honest."

She felt some slight tenseness leave Vivian's body and continued, "Growing up is scary, and I get it. But look at me. My job is to be a nanny. I can't nanny a grown woman. And you're growing up whether you like it or not. Believe me, if there's anyone who's more angry than you about how mature you're getting, it's your father."

 Vivian took notice of the small, but terribly powerful smile Felicity got whenever her dad was mentioned.

 "I'm not so much a fan of the growing up either," Felicity said twirling Vivian's chestnut locks around her index finger. "You getting older means I'm getting older too. I can't be your nanny forever, but I can always, and will always be your friend."

The sincerity in Felicity's eyes did not make Vivian feel more secure about the future she never imagined but was suddenly dreading. She felt anger bubbling within her.

"I feel like this is a society pressure thing."

 Felicity tilted her head, confusion evident. "What's that mean, doll?"

Vivian sighed, feeling very much like the teenager she was. "You could always be my nanny if society didn't think it was, like, wrong to have someone around to guide me even when I'm not a kid anymore." She crossed her arms and ended on a huff.

"You're thinking about a mom, not a nanny." Felicity nudged Vivian's chin up with her index finger. "Nannies feed, and clean, and keep you occupied while galas are going on. Speaking of, where was I when you were planning on going heavy-metal hotel room on some poor tables? Next time you and me are staying in the kitchens, punk. Nobody can be angry in the kitchen. I mean except for Gordon Ramsay, but even then it's no-"

She let her ramble on. Felicity was right. Vivi was confusing the boundaries of nanny and mother. But that's always the category she placed Felicity into. Felicity was there to wipe her tears. She was there to help her with homework. She was there to make her laugh and embarrass her when picking her up from school. Not to mention the obvious connection between Felicity and her dad: the connection that her family would talk about behind their backs and only in extreme moderation in front of Vivi.

Vivian wasn't sure if it was luck, or destiny, or whatever other forces in the universe, but nothing could explain why this "mom" talk came about as she was pondering the relationship between Felicity and dear old Dad.

She glanced over to Felicity who was still babbling on, but now held the remote in her hand. "I was expecting this to be better, honestly. But neither one of us can keep our attent- Oh look! _The Parent Trap_ just started!" Felicity changed the station immediately, not noticing the jaw drop of the girl beside her.

"What do you think? You up for it?" Felicity asked, swaying to the dulcet tones of Nat King Cole.

Vivian's smile grew steadily until it took over her whole face. _Oh I hear you Fate_ , she thought to herself. _No need to keep knocking_.

"You have no idea, Felicity. It's just what I needed."

 

 


	2. Viv Tests Her Phone Carrier's Limits of Free Night and Weekend Minutes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah I apologize for the wait. I thought I had a handle on my classes and would pop a chapter out in a week. Obviously i overestimate myself.

Viv has many qualities that she can attribute to her father: stubbornness, a natural ability to lead, and a mind for strategy. As she paced around her room with pen in one hand and a pocket journal in the other, she questioned the first way to attack the “Nanny Situation”. While tapping the pen to her lips she realized that she must look like a miniature Oliver in his Queen, Inc. office. Except for the fact that her dad seems to always master a tactic for seeing his goals met, and here she is- stuck before she ever really began.

She threw herself on the bed with a sigh. It would be much less stressful for Viv if it were him pacing around and looking for ways to make Felicity a permanent fixture in their home.

It was barely four hours ago that this plan entered into her mind and it was already driving her crazy. She contemplated adding, “Find a twin sister to help” on her meagre list of ideas. As much as she wanted to keep this plan a secret from her entire family, she realized that maybe she would have to call in for reinforcements. Reinforcements of the Thea Queen variety. 

A quick look at the clock told her that it was 12:36 in the morning. Not the greatest time to be calling her aunt, but there was always a chance that she was awake. Since it seemed like an Oliver thing to do, Viv pressed send on her phone, taking a risk and hoping for the best. That is what her father would do in any situation. Any situation other than gathering up the courage to tell Felicity he wants to be with her. She loves him dearly, but the more she thinks about him, the more stupid he sounds, and the more eager she is to start this plan. 

A grumbled male voice answered on the fourth ring, “Mhm, Hello?”

Roy? Viv thought they “broke up for good” last time. Before she could even get his name out of her mouth she heard the phone drop and the shuffling of sheets.

“Hello?” It was an annoyed Thea. Most likely more perturbed that Roy answered her phone without seeing who it was than the lateness of the phone call. A quick look down would show Thea that she was connected to Queen Vee with a cookie emoji. But now was not the time to be a smartass and remind her aunt of that fact. 

“It’s me,” she whispered softly. Just because Felicity was asleep down the hall didn’t mean that she was completely safe to make all the noise she wanted. 

“Vee! What’s wrong? Are you okay? Where’s Felicity?” Typical aunt behavior. 

“I’m fine, I just had a lot on my mind and wanted to talk.” As Viv spoke, guilt suddenly creeped up on her. She called early in the morning, only now realizing that adults take late night phone conversations as either booty calls or signs of emergency. 

She heard the sigh of relief on her aunt’s end. “Sure, babe. That’s what I’m here for. Just, um, give me a sec.”

Viv smiled to herself. The smartass-ness that was held at bay before was given the clear to go.

“Yeah, if we could have this conversation while you’re fully clothed, that would probably be for the best.”

“Vivian! What the hell?” Exactly as planned. 

“Hey, did you expect me to completely bypass the fact that Roy answered?” she asked while laying on her bed. “Wait, it is Roy right?”

“I was kind of hoping you’d be a little too embarrassed to talk about it, really, but yes it is Roy,” Thea chuckled, now sounding much clearer and louder too. She must’ve left her fair Romeo and gone into another room.

“Because that sounds exactly like me,” Viv said while rolling her eyes, “now are you ready, because this is some heavy stuff?”

“I’m all ears and Bulgari studs, now shoot.”

“I uh, had an interesting chat with Felicity before.” She said slowly. Viv may have had a plan before calling, but the actual communication portion of it now was making her head spin. Thea’s soft, “Mhmm,” encouraged her to go on.

“She was talking about how I won’t need a nanny anymore, because I’m growing up, and it hurt. A lot. It’s not something I ever even thought about. But it’s real and I hate it.” She was on the verge of tears again.

Thea gave her the same soft tone that Felicity did. “It’s tough babe, but that’s life. Felicity wasn’t supposed to watch you forever. In fact that’s the only reason why she agreed to watch you at all”

This was not what Viv classified as helpful words of encouragement from her aunt. Not in the slightest.

“What do you mean about Felicity agreeing?” 

Truthfully, Viv, who prided herself on knowledge of just about everything, knew very little about how Felicity came to be in her life. It was just a simple fact of life that Felicity was there to raise her and always wanted to do so. But Thea made it sound as though Felicity was coerced into it. 

“The plan always was for Felicity to be a part-time babysitter of sorts. Never a full time nanny and especially never for this long.” 

Viv had pop quizzes more anticipated than what Thea had just dropped on her.   
She could tell you what each of Felicity’s smiles meant, she could tell you how she takes her coffee, and her favorite James Bond (Roger Moore, by the way). But how was it possible for Viv to have never questioned the origin of Felicity Smoak in her life? 

This conversation with Thea already made Viv feel shameful and Thea only just read the opening sentence to this no doubt heavy saga. 

Of course Felicity had a life outside of Viv and Oliver. She had her days off and often told her of wacky hijinks she got into when she was younger. But Viv did not realize how self-absorbed she was to never really look further into her life. Felicity was a genius. Geniuses don’t go out looking for nanny positions after graduating MIT. 

“Thea, do you think you can take me back to when this all started?”

“Sure thing, but why are you asking me and not Felicity.”

Vivi’s eyes locked onto her bedroom door, scanning under the crack to see if any light was disturbed, signaling that Felicity was awake or out of her room before she continued. 

“I want Felicity and Dad to get together. And possibly a little sister. And maybe a brother too, I haven’t decided yet.”

Thea’s laughter was so loud, Viv swore she turned her cell phone on speaker.

“Oh Viv, welcome to the club.”

“I’m serious. This isn’t just me sitting on the side lines and taking bets on if the mistletoe Tommy put near the front door would work.”

“How’d you know about that?”

“I’m serious Thea. I can’t imagine my life without her. And I realize that sounds completely selfish, but I’m positive that she and Dad are it. I just need some background information to determine where I’m going from here.”

“Pshh, you just sounded completely like your Dad in a board meeting. I swear. No DNA test required.”

“You said that Felicity wasn’t always meant to be my nanny. What exactly happened there?” 

Viv’s notebook was now opened. She was ready to take notes more diligently than during last year’s World History class with the infamously strict Professor Gupta. This wasn’t a class where the outcome is just a letter on a report card. This was the lives of the two people most important to her. 

“You want to know how they met, you mean?” Thea added a bit too gently for Vivian’s liking. 

“That would be correct, Thea. I assume you know what happened.” Viv was staring at her door knob as if it would relay her intense and probing look to her aunt.

“Just for the record, Viv, I love you but I was young. And honestly, not celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day in Boston should be illegal. That was always so much fun when we were living in Massachusetts. You probably don’t remember it, but you loved the parade in Southie. But anyway, I was young and stupid. And did I mention that I was only seventeen and really stupid?”

“So you’re in Boston, you’re seventeen, and you’re stupid, so let me guess.” She tapped her pen to the side of her mouth and sarcastically asked, “The green harbor was calling your name?”

“So close, it was a boy.”

Viv sucked her teeth, “Oh I almost had it. So I’m guessing this boy, Seamus O’Grady-“

“Frank Heaney”

“Wanted to invite you to walk in the parade?”

“Could get us into this cool pub actually. And all would be fine if I wasn’t babysitting my beautiful and smart niece.”

“Hey, that’s me!” 

“Yeah. I apologize, but really I didn’t want to watch you. I’m sorry.” 

Viv waved her off, as though Thea could see her. “No worries. In four years I’ll blow your kid off and the cycle will be complete.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Thea shuddered.

“Okay, but which factor? The ‘Queen-Harper baby’ part, or the ‘Underage drinking and responsibility dodging Vivian’ part?”

“It was more like ‘Please don’t mention the four years until you’re seventeen’ part.” Viv heard a deep sigh over the phone “God, Vee. You’re really growing up.”

“Yup, and I’m growing older by the minute. Particularly the minutes when you avoid telling me the story of how my parents met.” 

Thea could hear the sound of Viv’s eyeballs rolling around inside those gorgeously lashed lids she inherited from the Dearden family.

“Your parents, huh?” She asked her niece, choosing to ignore the attitude the thirteen year old was giving. It was nearly one in the morning, she decided to give her a pass for now, focusing her attention instead on the outcome Vivian hoped to achieve. 

Viv answered softly and a tad bit too sadly for Thea’s liking, “Yeah, Thea. My parents. In all the ways it counts, they’re it. And they don’t see it. I just need to work this out.”

Thea took a deep breath before continuing the tale of how Felicity came into their lives.

“Frank really wanted me to come to the pub. There was a band playing that night. I don’t remember their name. Actually I don’t remember much about the actual pub to be honest. I was just eager to go. At that time I was your primary babysitter after school and on weekends if need be. And it was a weekend. A Saturday. Ollie was in the QC Mass office with some server problem and I was hitting my head against a window waiting for him to come back, Blackberry in hand.”

“And I was where exactly?”

“Sleeping in your playpen. Snug as a bug on a rug. Next thing I know, Frank is ringing the bell.” Thea Queen was always a touch dramatic, and that carried into this conversation, making it sound more like it should be told in the middle of the woods with a campfire blazing and some marshmallows to roast.

“With a sleeping baby in the house? I hope this was the last time you saw him.”

“The thing about babies is that if you live your life regularly while they’re infants and never creep around the house while they’re sleeping, they grow accustomed to everyday sounds.”

“So I didn’t wake up?” Viv asked quizzically.

“No, you woke up. And you screamed your little head off. I should’ve read more parenting advice before watching you, maybe. These are the things I learned post-baby Viv.”

“Don’t worry, I was a practice test for when you and Roy have a bundle of joy. Hey that rhymed pretty well. Pretend you didn’t hear it. I’m saving it for your baby shower.”

“So Frank the Harvard freshman who was texting me and knew I was babysitting showed up and rang the bell. I had you on my hip screaming when I answered the door.” Thea paused briefly. “He wasn’t deterred by any of this by the way. Completely blasé. Still wanted me to come out with him”.

Viv scoffed, “Real winner there.”

Thea tutted her niece, “It’s all because of Frank that we met Felicity, so cut the guy some slack.”

Vivian nearly dropped her phone. “What detour can we take to get to that part of the story, Thea?”

Thea giggled. “Frank was adamant that I come with him to the pub. I later found out it was because his ex-girlfriend was going to be there, and if I didn’t go with him he might look pathetic alone.”

“I’m sure him showing up to a pub with an underage girl and me strapped into a baby Bjorn would be a lot less pathetic than being alone.” Viv was getting tired, but this story was too entertaining to cut short and save until morning. 

“Right? So I told him that it was impossible for me to go until Ollie came back, which wasn’t going to be for hours. And he said there was this girl he knew that could babysit.”

“Felicity?” Viv asked, a tiny hopeful smile on her face as she sat up on her bed.

“Felicity,” Thea confirmed. “He knew her from around Cambridge. She was always doing odd jobs to make extra money. She tutored Frank’s friend’s cousin in math for a couple of months so he knew she was reliable. I made him call his friend and ask for his Aunt’s number before I agreed to call Felicity. I needed to make sure she wasn’t a psycho.”

Viv was bewildered. “Could you ever believe that you wouldn’t trust Felicity? I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”

“She was a stranger, Viv. I had to be cautious. The plan was to just go for a couple of hours before your dad got home. I would sneak out and sneak back in with him none the wiser.”

“And how did that work out for you?”

Thea scoffed and told her, “You’d think it being Saint Patrick’s Day and all that Murphy and his law would take a break and let plans run smoothly. We called Felicity and she huffed a little, but Frank promised to pay her up front in cash and she agreed. I was a little nervous when she showed up. Back then she was all gothic, have you seen any pictures?”

“Yeah, she looked so bad ass,” Viv said with a little chuckle.

“Bad ass, yes. But here I was, about to leave my niece, the daughter of my only brother, a scary older brother at that, alone with a stranger. I was hoping for Mary Poppins, not Mary Kills-Pop-music-with-safety-Pins.”

“Did you even let her in the house?”

“Yeah, but she could tell I wasn’t so keen on letting her stay. That was until you two locked eyes, and she smiled so sweetly at you. She shook your hand and boom the rest is history.”

Viv frowned. “That’s sweet, but doesn’t really answer much in the ‘how did an MIT Cyber Security and Computer Sciences major become a nanny’ category.”

“So, I left and came home. When I pulled up to the house and saw your dad’s car in the garage, my heart just about stopped. Despite what you may have thought, I didn’t drink all that much at the pub. Only one pint, and I didn’t even finish it because I can only drink Guinness when it’s a black velvet. Put some champagne in it and I’m fine, but otherwise no. But anyway, I pulled up and went inside expecting Ollie to lock me in my room straight away. Instead I see you and your dad playing with a balloon, while Felicity was packing up her stuff. When her eyes caught mine she gave me this ‘I’m so sorry’ look. She told Ollie that she’d send him an email of her hours later and walked toward the door, patting me on the shoulder and telling me good luck.”

Viv winced. “Did he give you the angry eyes?” 

“He was surprisingly calm. That had to be Felicity’s doing. He asked me why I didn’t just tell me about my plans for the day and told me how dangerous it was to just hire a random person to watch his precious bundle of joy. This annoyed the crap out of me, obviously. I clearly wouldn’t just leave you with anybody. I called Frank’s friend’s aunt for a recommendation and I waited to see how Felicity would turn out.”

Viv understood Thea’s anger. Sometimes her dad knew every nerve to hit in an argument and loved to make you feel ashamed of your actions. “Did you hit him below the belt? Tell him that you were more selective and responsible than he was when he got Ivy pregnant?”

Thea paused briefly with nothing but a sharp exhale heard on Viv’s speaker. “Vivian please tell me that you don’t sit around and think of potential comebacks for your father. And please promise me that you will never throw that in his face, ever.” 

Vivian had nothing to respond. She felt guilty enough saying that to her aunt, she couldn’t imagine saying that to her father. 

Thea grabbed control of the conversation entirely. “You know what Vivi, it’s late. You need to sleep.”

“Wait, Thea, I get it! And you’re right I am a jerk, and yes, it is late but please tell me more.”

Thea sighed. She understood how frustrated Viv was. It was irritating enough to be watching the ‘Oliver and Felicity Show’ from the cheap seats. She could only imagine what it was like to basically live with two people denying their feelings so vehemently. She imagined that the force of such attraction being rejected could create a black hole. So she continued, “Your father assumed that Felicity was a friend of mine and that I was upstairs. When he found out what happened he flipped out a bit. But Felicity put him in his place. She told him that she was hired and she actually gave him some trouble about leaving. Lis asked him how she was supposed to know that he was your father and told him she didn’t feel comfortable leaving her job so that some stranger, who wasn’t the person who hired her, could stay with a baby.” 

Viv laughed, “I guess Dad fell from her from there, huh? Her fierceness in what she believes in. Her inability to give in when intimidated.”

Thea smiled softly. “He must’ve. While they were waiting for me they got to talking and she managed to fix his server problem in about six minutes. From the house! He asked if she could come to QC Mass during the week and look at some techy stuff that was giving his IT guys a problem. When she got there he had you with him. I was there printing out an English paper and I saw you make grabby arms at her. She plopped you on her hip and fixed some computer bugs one handed. It was awesome.”

Viv let out a groan, “I wish I could’ve seen that myself. So what, Dad said, ‘You’re great with my kid- please watch her?’” 

Thea was rummaging through her cabinets, from what Viv could hear when she responded, “QC Mass was a small branch of Queen Consolidated. Was, and still is. They weren’t doing too much intern work, and in all honesty it would’ve been a waste to have her there when she could be doing great things at QC headquarters in Starling. So Ollie told her in two years when she got her masters, that QC in Starling would have a job for her.”

Viv heard Thea take a sip of something before continuing, “That was when he planned on moving back anyway. After you were born he wanted to take a stand for himself. He felt all this daunting responsibility in Starling, but it was responsibility he wanted to be able to take on. Dad died, my dad I mean- your grandpa, and it left Ollie in the spotlight with a kid. He wanted to have some peace to figure out how to raise you and a company together. His two legacies. Boston was the best option. Mom was proud of him and respected his urge to figure it out on his own, so she told him about Massachusetts. And I followed along because, well, to be honest it was tough after Dad died. I wanted to run and I sort of craved that independence too. So we found a good school and a nice house and we went.” 

Viv felt as though she was missing something. “So Felicity went to Starling with all of you and then didn’t take the job?”

Thea gave a long exhale, “Babe, you have no idea. While Felicity was getting her masters she would drop around the office every once in a while to help with little tech things. You always found her when she was there. The In-Office Daycare would be kind of jealous actually. You were so drawn to her and would toddle your way over to her any time she was around. Before you knew it Felicity got her degree and you three were ready to come back to Starling.”

Viv rubbed at her eyes, “And where were you?”

“I was already in SCU. I missed you so much, but it was just another step on my road to independence. I left the year before. Totally bawled on the plane. No shame though. I was gonna miss my favorite munchkin.” Thea’s voice changed into that tone only used on babies and animals.

“So they shoot out to Starling, and?”

“And QC won’t hire her!”

Viv’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me?” 

“Absolutely not. The board was full of idiots then. This was when it was QC. There were a lot of vultures still lurking around trying to take what my grandfather built and my father shaped. They were not pleased with Ollie going back either. They thought they could scare him off I guess by not giving Felicity a job.”

Viv snarled. “Assholes. Poor Felicity. What did she do?”

“Your dad was so torn up. He promised her so much and uprooted her whole life for noth-”

Viv cut in, “But it wasn’t his fault. It was those dick board members!” 

“I know, but he felt like it was. He was trying to get her a job somewhere else, anywhere else, when she suggested that she start babysitting you, full time.”

Viv’s brow furrowed in complete confusion. “So Felicity, certified genius with the ability to go in a completely school everyone in what they think they know, just started babysitting?”

Thea’s voice came out gently. “She had one hundred percent faith in your dad, kid. She believed that he could get in there and make a difference. Felicity told him that she would babysit you and on the side help him with getting a better grip on the company. She was his right hand back then. She told him once he sorts everything out, with her help of course, it would be smooth sailing and she could be officially hired.” Her tone was filled with admiration and thanks for Felicity. Thea was interested in devaluing how much Felicity aided in her family’s company and getting Oliver into that respected CEO position he currently has.

Viv shook her head. “God damn, she loved him back then, didn’t she? But wait, how come she never worked at, what was it? QC?” 

“It took about three years for Ollie to really get his control from the people who ran QC into the ground. He changed QC to Queen, Inc. for some legal reasons I have no idea about, and became Mr. Forbes List shortly after. While Felicity was watching you she was writing some code and making some software. She decided that she rather liked being her own boss in that way, and doing some freelance. She kept that up the entire time.”

“She still does it”

“Mhmm,” Thea hummed. “She continued to watch you because she was just so used to it and really, you guys were inseparable.” 

“She’s sup-“ Viv’s yawns made the rest of her sentence into an incoherent mess.

“Viv it’s late and you’re tired. Go to bed and call me after you’ve slept and plotted. I’m awfully interested in getting Felicity’s name to match the company and family she helped save, too.”

Viv gave out a sleepy giggle, “I love you Aunt Thea.”

“I love you too, babe. Night”

Vivian hung up her phone and stretched. She decided to quickly get herself a glass of water before she settled for the night.

She was walking around dazed and pleased from the information she learned about her favorite artificial blonde, that she didn’t realize that Felicity was on the living room sofa, phone in hand. 

Viv walked past and made Felicity jump and squeak, causing Viv to do the same way a split second later in reaction to the blonde. 

“Great Scott, Viv. What are you doing up so late?” Felicity yelled, hand to her chest.

“I was growing cacti and tumbleweeds in my mouth Lis! I needed a drink. What are you doing up?’

Felicity flushed, putting her phone in her pajama bottoms. She was fumbling for an excuse, but it wasn’t necessary to defend herself. Vivian was far too tired to comprehend anything she would say, anyway. 

As Vivian went back into her room she missed the beeping sound Felicity’s phone made. If she did hear it she just might have been forced to remember what she thought about earlier on the matter of adults and the two options she believed they had for late night phone conversations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt this might be too dialogue heavy, but I truly wanted to avoid writing a flashback. Hopefully this clears the way with any "How did Felicity become a nanny" questions. Thanks for reading!


	3. Father Daughter Time: A Little Less Sports, A Little More Spanish Inquisition

Adolescents have a lot of bizarre things going on in their bodies. There’s some funky smells, and quickly growing limbs, and all sorts of nonsense that makes you really question how people can look at nature and see “majestic beauty”.

This thought process caused Viv to turn to the Gospel According to Google. She discovered that the reason why she’s been more of a nocturnal binturong (bearcat that smells like popcorn) as opposed to a robin (the first singing bird of the morning) was because of melatonin. Adolescents begin to produce melatonin later in the evening than they used to in childhood. They also require more time to sleep than they did when they were younger. This unfortunately helps to create a habit of staying up until the wee hours of the morning with the accompaniment of Paid Programming infomercials on TV and sleeping to an hour when only diners and McDonalds will still offer you a breakfast menu.

Still, she finds that waking up at a reasonable morning hour can be quite pleasant. Sometimes she rises to the sound of pots and pans being moved around in the kitchen and she lazily waits in bed to fully wake up until she smells the distinctive scent of her dad’s French toast. Other times she’ll lightly hear some New-Wave band in the distance and the clack of Felicity’s keyboard. She’ll stay in bed until she hears Felicity mumble some expression of joy that Viv knows was punctuated by a fist pump. Occasionally she’ll wake up to a finger tracing down the bridge of her nose softly and the smell of a spicy-honey perfume that tells her Thea has invaded her room and her aunt’s shoes are probably on her bed. Viv even likes to wake up to the high pitched little squeaky baby voice of Dig and Lyla’s daughter Gigi asking for crayons or the remote or if she can “go to Viv’s room pwease.”

But this.

This was no way to wake up.

Her dad, though calling him that confirmed he was related to her, bounced on her bed. As if that wasn’t enough, he was singing- and not well. About a decade ago he made up lyrics to the tune of “Here Comes Santa Clause” and started to sing it to her in the morning. Back then she had her full childhood 8 hours of sleep and morning cartoons to look forward to, so hearing him belt out, “Wake up Vivian, wake up Vivian. Get up Vivian, please?” wasn’t so bad.

He hadn’t used it out in a while, long enough for her to almost forget about it. Clearly he pulled it out of retirement thinking that it was the best way to awaken a young teenager at 10:13 this lovely morning.

The only way to describe the look on his face is maniacal. She squinted to protect her eyes from the shock of the rays through the window, but she was pretty sure his wide eyes had not blinked. All in all, it was a terrible wakeup call, 2/10, would not recommend calling the front desk for this type of service in the future.

“Dad,” she grumbled with a hoarse morning voice, “any reason for the child abuse this morning, or is it a spur of the moment aggression kind of thing?”

He hopped off her bed with a pout. “I’ve been gone for three whole days and this is the greeting I get from the fruit of my loins-”

She shook her head violently. “Please don’t talk about loin fruit this early. I beg of you.”

“I missed you so much, and I love you, and can’t wait to spend the day together-”

“You sound like a really desperate stalker.”

He gave another sitting bounce to get back on her bed, this time lying next to her. “I came home and it was so sad, Viv, so sad. Me alone in this big quiet house. No little Vivi coming to grab my legs-“

“I’d probably be aiming for the throat these days,” she said turning towards him with a smile.

He grabbed her head in two hands and placed a kiss on her brow. “Morning Viv, I missed you.”

She sighed in content, “I missed you too Pops. How was uh New-Saint-Fort-Dale-Ville, or wherever?”

“Los Angeles was fine. I saw Elmo from the cab, can you believe it? Elmo just cruising along Hollywood Boulevard.”

He took hold of her palm with one of his gargantuan “Dad hands” and reached into his pocket with the other. “How did he cross the street alone,” she wondered. “Was Big Bird there too?” While she was worrying about the life of a Muppet on a road clearly nowhere near Sesame Street, he fastened a red faux leather watch to her dainty wrist.

“Tada! Isn’t it great?” He said raising both his arms as if he performed a trick.

She turned her arm to see the face of the watch and was delighted to see Leonardo DiCaprio’s profile next to an Oscar award.

Her jaw slackened a bit before her eyes met his. “Dad, this is honestly the best tacky business trip souvenir ever. You can’t ever top this one.”

He smirked at her, “Wanna bet on that Miss?”

She giggled at him before sitting up and sliding her feet to the floor.

“I can’t wait to show Felicity,” she said while stretching her arms above head and walking to her vanity in search of a hair tie. “You didn’t show it to her first again, did you?”

She turned to look at him, awaiting his response.

He was trying to school his appearance to look passive, but Vivian noticed the slight disappointment hidden there. “Felicity’s not here today. Donna had something pop up and needed Felicity’s help.” He looked down at his hands and absently picked at a cuticle. “She left a little after I came home.” He picked his head up to meet his daughter’s gaze, and his face shifted to a ‘knowing parent’ ‘you’re about to be in trouble’ expression. “She did happen to tell me before she left that you were up mysteriously late last night, though.”

“Psh, what a narc”, she said with a laugh while gathering her hair at the top of her head and fastening it all rather messily into a bun.

He stood up and grabbed a hold of Viv’s shoulders while pleading with her. “Please, please, please try to keep a good sleeping schedule. It’ll throw everything out of whack if you don’t. College habits are built from high school routines.”

She grabbed his forearms and squeezed in acknowledgement, “Aye, aye captain.” It wasn’t like she purposefully tested her limits of staying awake. I mean last night, yeah she did, but he didn’t know about her sneaky phone call to Thea or her matchmaking plans. So she pretended this scenario was no different than any other time they caught her still awake at a horrific hour of the morning, and responded in agreement to his fears, pretending that she would heed his warnings.

“What’s on the itinerary today?” Viv asked in part to change the topic train from her and her future in high school, and college beyond that, but also so she could determine what outfit to choose.

“I’m thinking some bagels at Luzo’s and then maybe a ride to nowhere and just see where the road takes us. What do you think?” He asked this while scrubbing at a nail polish mark on her vanity with a very annoyed look on his face.

“That’s been there for months, it’s never coming off. But that sounds fun. I like cruising around.” Viv was already pulling open drawers trying to find that MIT hoodie Felicity bought her last year.

Oliver frowned at the “Magenta Agenda” stain but gave Viv a smile. “Can we be out of here by eleven?”

Viv’s eyes squinted at the challenge presented. “I’ll be out the door by 10:45 the latest.”

He side eyed his daughter as he closed the door saying, “We’ll see about that.”

◊

While Vivian showered she thought about what actions she could take today to further Operation Crowning the Nanny. She didn’t really have any time to formulate a set plan. As soon as she went back into her room last night, she passed right out. There was no time for further scheming after Thea’s phone call. She went to sleep with the idea that in the morning she would devise a further plan of attack. Clearly that was impossible with the less than desirable Oliver Queen alarm clock, or Alarm-iver if you will.

The only thing she did plan out was the name, Operation Crowning the Nanny. And now in actual morning hours accompanied by sunlight and rational judgement, she realized even that was something she had to work on.

◊ 

She was stomping into her shoes while running to the door where Oliver was leaning against the frame staring at his wristwatch.

“10:47, bud. I’m sorry but you didn’t make it.”

“Puhleaze, my 10:45 guess was way closer than your 11 o’clock one was. We’re only two minutes off from that as opposed to your thirteen minutes. So I still win,” She said while waiting for him to unlock the door to the car.

“Price is Right rules say closest without going over. So you lose, I’m sorry to say.”

“If we were playing Price is Right, absolutely. But we were guessing how long it would take me to shower and change. Totally different game, totally different rules. Plus I never thought that was fair. You could be a penny over and lose to somebody who was five hundred dollars away.”

He slid into the car, “Take your L with dignity.”

While Viv may have a wise mouth way beyond her years, the groan she let out was indicative of the young embarrassed teenager she was. “Please don’t use the lingo of the youth. Now if you don’t mind, I need a toasted sesame-seed bacon bagel with cream cheese and an iced green tea lemonade.”

He shook his head. “You’ve spent way too much time with your aunt. She’s got you making complicated orders.”

She turned as far to the left as her seatbelt would allow. “You know, you talk a lot for a chauffeur.”

He snorted and ruffled her hair. “Why didn’t I just stay in LA? I don’t need this abuse.”

She smirked at him. “Hm, maybe. But then Felicity would be stuck with me. You wouldn’t want her to have to deal with all of this on her own, would you? Some friend you are.”

He turned his head to check a blind spot, so Viv couldn’t see his reaction. “Who’s to say I wouldn’t fill her in on my plan? That would leave you with Thea. And let me say, if there’s anyone who deserves a moody teenager it’s Thea Queen. The circle would be complete and life would make sense.”

“She and Roy are back together bee tee dubs.” She saw the slight confusion on his face and further clarified. “By the way. The letters BT and W.”

“It takes the same amount of syllables to just say, ‘By the way.’ I don’t understand.”

“Probably the same way that I don’t understand why you type ‘Google.com’ into the Chrome address bar when you can just put in the phrase you want to search.”

“And yet you still find room in your heart for your dear old dad.”

“It’s tough, but I can manage. Most days anyway. But yeah. Thea and Roy are back again. Here’s to hoping it sticks.” He nodded in agreement while pulling into the parking lot.

◊

After ordering their food (where Oliver only forgot to mention the bacon and lemonade portions of her order before she corrected him- a new personal best) they decided to take their meal to go. There was a high rise mall parking lot nearby that gave a great view of Starling City’s skyline. They almost always went there while eating fast food before a car trip.

Viv saw this as a perfect opportunity to bring up Felicity. Their conversation before the bagels was on relationships, Thea’s relationship, but still it was on the right topic.

With all the grace of a newborn giraffe, not that she would ever want to see that YouTube video again, she began “So. Um. You seemed kinda bummed that Felicity wasn’t here this morning. Do you like, want to talk about that?”

He blinked a few times, still chewing his poppy and butter concoction, but using it as an excuse to not speak right away. As if he would shy away from talking with his mouth full.

He looked at Viv and opened his mouth, only to close it and open once more. “What?”

Viv blushed violently. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Maybe for him to act bashful and shy and to come around and say that he missed Felicity terribly. Or perhaps her questioning would spark something within him that would cause an emotional downpour where he would ask her why Felicity didn’t see that he was desperate to be with her. Instead she got a confused Oliver who seemed to not understand where this line of questioning was coming from.

She took a deep breath. There was no way to get out of this one. She was about to be in the car with him for the foreseeable future. The topic could be dropped, but it would hang there between them awkwardly the whole time.

“Felicity and I were talking yesterday about me getting older and not needing her anymore.” Oliver searched her eyes trying to see where she was coming from and where she was going. The old Cotton Eyed Joe eyes, as she liked to call them.

She played with the string of her hood. “I kind of freaked out. I’m not ready to be away from her, and I guess I’m asking if you feel the same way. I realize that she looks after me as a side note of sorts while she does her usual computer badassery. But like.” She broke off sighing deeply. “Why can’t I put this right in words?”

He rubbed her upper arm with his thankfully and impressively unbuttered hand. “You think just because you’re getting older, you won’t see her anymore?”

She shook her head, “It’s not even that. It’s more like. Wait, yeah kind of. She’s family. I don’t want to think about coming home and not seeing her. She’s a constant in ways that Thea and Dig and Tommy and everybody else aren’t. And when you looked kind of upset that she wasn’t around this morning, I thought that maybe you might feel the same way I did, and like maybe you could help me work through this somehow. Ugh, I don’t know. I can have a smart ass response for everything, but when it comes down to something important it’s like the words won’t cooperate in my brain.”

Viv had tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall. She started this conversation with the intention of being the strong willed one who would take initiative and get answers. Her father’s soft voice reminded her of just how much of that backfired.

“Hey, you’re definitely not alone.” She looked up at him.

“Felicity is,” He left his sentence hanging and stopped to take in a large breath, though most of the air was released through his nose in an amused puff. “That’s just it, isn’t it. She is everything. You’re not the only one who relies on her.” He rubbed his neck. “I’m not entirely sure I know how to function without her.”

Viv raised her eyebrows so far that she was sure the wrinkles the motion created made her forehead look like the Russian cursive of “chinchilla”.

She knew what she had to do. It was a question that needed to be brought up at some time, and the opportunity arose now. She would have to forge ahead.

As calmly as she could, trying to leave out all traces of hesitation she asked him, “So, like, you know that you’re in love with her, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to write more to this chapter, but I got tired and planned on writing more tomorrow. Then I realized it wasn't the worst place ever to stop, so I left it, because I'm kind of a dick. But that's also placing lofty assumptions that this level of 'cliffhanger' would have an adverse affect on anyone... Anyway, thanks for the reading and also for the amazing feedback on my work so far! I'm stoked by the amount of sheer awesome you all possess.


	4. You'd Think Viv Is A Porcupine With All The Points She Makes.

Like majority of Starling’s elite, Vivian attends the prestigious, and eponymous, Starling City Prep. Her eighth and final year at the academy has been marked by many advanced placement classes and fun electives given to only to upperclassmen, but it does not exclude her from taking the mandatory module on health. The new school added in a course far more extensive than what Oliver had ever taken during his time there. He imagines that there is a good reason his childhood alma mater has gone to those lengths, mainly because of most of their privileged students, himself included, and their… debauchery. It was not uncommon to see a Starling City Prep graduate on the local news in their teen years being arrested for drinking while intoxicated or even urinating on a cop car.

Due to the new course, Viv and her peers have an open atmosphere in their classroom where all sorts of sexual and drug related questions are answered. Above that, they are actually taught the dangers and safety of both. Though Oliver still hears through the PTA grapevine of some kid selling Adderall in the hallway or of the pot so-and-so thought they were buying, it seems significantly tamer than his formative years- and he credits it to this particular class he never had the opportunity to take.

The students had been going through drug categorizations for the past month, learning the chemical classifications, side effects, and withdrawal symptoms. Though Viv takes good care to learn all she can in this course, as she does in every other class, they hadn’t gotten to opioids yet. She briefly wondered if her father’s reaction to her question was a direct response to an overdose on poppy seeds through bagel. After further consideration, she doubted it would be enough to drug him; and thanks to that troubled teen, young-adult book she picked up at the library, she remembered that it’s a downer, not an upper.

Last year’s physical science curriculum, however, helped her to hypothesize that the bass from father’s deep laughter was the root cause of the booming feeling in her chest. His laud laughs made her feel as if her heart were shaking with every beat. She was blaming the pressure in her ribs on low frequency/high amplitude waves. Viv was not going to admit that the anxious feeling was caused by her father’s laughter at what she deemed to be the most important question she could ever ask him. It would hurt too much.

“So, like, you know that you’re in love with her, right?”

His hands were gripping the wheel and he hadn’t really opened his eyes up. She wasn’t able get a read on his expression while laughing. Was it because her question was unthinkable, or because she had something on her face, or possibly- with fingers crossed- because she managed to touch on his deepest insecurity?

From an objective standpoint, it was quite a sight to behold. CEO Oliver Queen with butter on his cheek, laughing so hard his face was red. Under different circumstances this might have been fun. If he were to have this kind of reaction instead of just smirking and looking away when Roy childishly demands she face him in a rematch at Mario Kart, it would fill her with such pride. Instead she was sitting awkwardly, playing with the straw wrapper while she waited for him to finish.

His laughter eventually died down and his voice became softer, but that didn’t help to calm her nerves.

She didn’t know what to expect, but the slightly condescending, “Vi-iv,” drawn out into two syllables was not it. It sounded like he was talking to a baby. Ridiculing her. Patronizing her.

He brushed some hair behind her ear trying to coax her to look at him, but she pushed his hand away. She did not want to be placated by him right now.

“Can we not,” she asked, looking out the window at the skyscrapers of Starling. “Can we just go and not talk about this ever again?” She thought she was brave enough to broach the Felicity plan with him, but clearly she was over her head. Maybe some time to recuperate and regroup at home would make her bolder. She would develop a strong offensive game where she is more prepared.

He interrupted her thoughts with that irksome tone that irritated her in ways she never experienced before.

“Viv.”

It was suddenly stifling in the car. “No. No, ‘Vi-iv’. I was just trying to express my concerns, God forbid I have any, and you want to be a jerk. Since I’m the only adult in the car, I get to take the reins here, and I’m telling you I want to go home.” She spoke without looking at him. If she had snuck a glance she would have seen that the laughter was completely gone.

“Vivian look at me.” His voice was demanding, yet it still carried a tone reminiscent of softening a blow. She hesitated, but looked up anyway.

He smiled at her, “You think I’m in love with Felicity.”

She rolled her eyes and bumped her skull lightly on the leather headrest. She half hoped her eyes would somehow get stuck. It would make for a fun hospital visit. She can imagine how the absurdity of the situation. “Yes doctor, my father’s stupidity caused me to react with an eye roll and head slam. Science said it was just an old wives’ tale, but here I am.”

Viv sighed in an entirely exaggerated fashion that only thirteen year olds can pull off.  
“Yeah, Dad. I think you’re in love with her because of how you pine a little when she’s not around, like this morning for instance. Or how you constantly have to be the center of her attention when you guys are at a gala or anywhere when she’s all beautified and lovely, and dudes are lining up to just make eye contact with her. Or maybe even how I catch you looking at her when she’s just working on her laptop.”

He gave a smile, but it was not one meant for her. She recognized it as his Felicity face, marked by the soft curve of his lips and the relaxed eyes. He was clearly somewhere else, with his mind on Felicity only. Before she could comment on it, he snapped back into the conversation.

“Who the hell says ‘pine’ anymore?”

“Can you please stay focused? You pine. You agonize over. You carry a torch. The words don’t make a difference.”

“And you’re okay with me ‘carrying a torch’ to light Felicity?”

“That’s not how the phrase goes at all, but yes. I want you to set Felicity on fire with your love torch.” She froze, realizing the Felicity level euphemism she made before scrunching up her face in disgust. “Not like that. Please don’t take this conversation as me telling you I want the pair of you to bang. Nobody wants to encourage their parents to have sex. Unless it’s in a _Back to the Future_ type scenario where my existence depends on it. But even then, she’s not my biological mother she’s jus-”

Viv trailed off, looking at her dad’s peacefully calm smile. His voice was somewhat bewildered and breathy when he asked her, “You think of Felicity as your mom?”

How could this be something he was legitimately asking? Vivian thought of the woman who took care of her nonstop for the past decade, the woman who spent every waking hour ensuring that her ward was happy and safe, was like a mother? It’s not ludicrous to have formed that bond at all, in fact he was the one sounding crazy.

“Of course I do, Dad! How can you even?” She trailed off completely baffled and annoyed. “That’s what started this whole situation. Felicity and I were talking about me growing up and she was trying to reassure me that she’d always be around, even when it’s not in the ‘make sure Viv doesn’t blow the house up when you leave for work’ capacity. I freaked out, and rightly so, because I realized that even though you two basically co-parent me, you aren’t together.”

He nodded, but remained silent. She took this as an opportunity to continue her rant.

“You guys have such a screwed up relationship. Like really, how did you get to this point? You two are totally in love. You raised a damn kid together. A good kid. A great terrific, smart kid! You live together and flirt nonstop. How is it possible that only now this subject is brought up?”

Oliver chuckled softly. “It’s complicated.”

She raised her eyebrows, challenging him. “Try me.”

He looked her directly in the eyes, trying to convey the seriousness of the words he was mulling over. “I’m in love with Felicity.”

She released a deep huff of relief and gave a smile that grew to near comic dimensions, but he wasn’t finished speaking.

“Looking back on our relationship makes it pretty much impossible to determine when I fell in love with her. It didn’t feel like I was in love in the beginning. But now, trying to pinpoint where that line was drawn between complete fascination by this know-it-all goth, adoration of a hard working woman with goals and ambition, and love for the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, is so hard. The feelings that I have and have always had for her just seem to blend together.”

She nodded, feigning that she understood what he was saying. “So it just moved too fast for you over the course of a decade?” She didn’t want to take up the role of patronizing question asker, but he was not making sense.

A sad smile crossed his face while shaking his head softly. “It never felt like the right time, Viv. And there was always you to worry about.”

Her eyebrows crinkled. “Because I was -” She tried to drag the answer out of him with her hands, urging him to continue that train of thought.

“I always had you to think about. What if we didn’t work out, Viv? Where would that leave you? We date and then something happens and we’re no longer together. You’re now in the middle of this mess. Or, what if you didn’t like this idea of us together and you felt we were excluding you somehow. Then what?” He was trying to be rational, but it just succeeded in pissing Viv off.

“Or what if you guys love each other from a distance, never putting yourselves out there to truly be happy? What if instead, that leaves me to go banana sandwich because of the insanity of living in a house where two people, who clearly want the same thing, never do anything about it? Ever think about that one?”

He exhaled lightly from his nose instead of laughing. “That never came up on the list of things to worry about.”

Despite her outburst, Viv could see how stressful this was for him and why he might have worried in the past. She grabbed his hand and asked, “You gave this a lot of thought, huh?”

He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles but gave no response, letting her take control of the conversation.

“You love Felicity Smoak, Dad. It’s not a life sentence. I mean, I hope it can be. Not a sentence as in you have to suffer. But ugh.” She closed her eyes and counted to three. “Felicity is the happiest ‘rainbows and butterflies’ person I know. Being in love with her shouldn’t be something that makes you sit here and brood.” She pulled her hand from his so she could turn and look at him more clearly.

“Let’s look at the worst case scenarios that you provided.” She felt like she was a motivational speaker. “‘What if you don’t work out?’ I feel like if you wouldn’t work out, we wouldn’t be living together right now. Felicity would have kept this situation way more professional. She’s not just somebody who works for you. She’s your best friend. But suppose that you guys got into an argument you couldn’t get over, and break up. It would have to be because neither of you want to be together anyway. You both always work hard to come back to each other after your fights.”

She gave him a sly smile. “I mean, look how you and Laurel are still good friends. If you managed to keep her in your life after the crap you pulled, you can still be friends with Felicity after a mutual breakup.”

His face mas a mix of horror and confusion. He was too naïve. “If it’s on the internet, I can find it.”

He sighed, “That was a different situation, Viv. I cared for Laurel deeply and love her in many ways, but it’s not the same.”

She knew he was trying to talk himself out of having hope, so she moved on. “Now you also worried about me if the two of you were not able to work out a relationship. The way I see it there are three options for what happens. In the current scenario where you sit on your ass and do nothing, Felicity leaves in search for someone who can offer her love and comfort the way you deny her.”

Oliver huffed, “I should’ve named you Drama. You’re so-“

She wagged her finger at him. “Don’t interrupt. The second scenario is what your main fear is, I guess. It’s when you two date and discover that this isn’t something you can do or that you can’t work on your relationship together. It results in Felicity leaving because neither of you want her to stay.”

She gave him an arrogant sneer before hitting him with some more.

“So unless you both have a major personality transplant, that scenario sounds unlikely. But all that leads to my personal favorite option, where you guys try the new aspect of your relationship, which works out spectacularly, and Felicity doesn’t leave!”

She looked over at Oliver who seemed to be mulling something over in his head and wasn’t watching her animated presentation of ‘Option Three’.

“Did you notice that if you do nothing, Felicity will still leave?”

His eyes met hers, “Yeah, you made that pretty clear.”

“Now, you also said you worried about me feeling left out, and I promise you that will not be the case. I’m getting older now, and if I’m being honest with you, a little alone time for me will be a relief. You guys always use me as an excuse to be together. I’m thirteen, I can handle a night alone while you go on a date.”

Oliver’s one brow raised in amusement and Viv giggled. “The only time I’m gonna want to put a stop to any of this is if you start with the whole ‘love torch’ nonsense. There’s just some things a girl doesn’t need to see.”

Oliver rolled his eyes and blushed slightly, making her just a little creeped out. “I get it Vivian.”

She continued on, “I mean slight signs of affection are okay, but really, no sucking face while I’m aro-”

“That’s more than enough Vivian.”

She raised her hands in surrender. “I’m just trying to set some ground rules. You sounded worried about my mental state if you two were to break up, but I’m more concerned about the scars you two as an item could leave.”

Viv was sure that her arguments were compelling enough to lead her to victory, but she knew Oliver hadn’t fully given in yet. He was still stuck in his own head, having a conversation with himself likely fueled by doubt and worry.

“You’ve really given this some thought, huh?” The seriousness in his eyes didn’t match the tone of his voice.

Vivian knew it wasn’t the time for her to give him her instinctual, “No, duh,” answer. He needed her to be strong and confident so he could take the leap.

“Dad, this isn’t some game. This is our lives: mine, yours, and Felicity’s. I thought about it so hard because it’s not just me sitting here planning your dates like I used to do with Barbies. This is real life with real repercussions.” She couldn’t resist the playful tone she took, “The damage you two did on me already is more than enough.”

Oliver jutted his chin at her, encouraging her to finish her line of thought.

“Look at the relationship examples I have in my life! I’m going to end up modeling all my future relationships on the dynamics I learned from Tommy and Laurel, Dad. Is that something you want for me?”

Oliver didn’t latch on to the joke she started. He didn’t even give her a laugh.

“Tommy and Laurel love each other, and that’s all I ever want for you when you find in a partner- love.”

The skepticism etched on her face was just as potent as her words. “How do you expect me to believe that when you yourself aren’t with someone who loves you?”

He flinched, but she didn’t take that as a sign to stop. He was almost there. Her influence on him gaining power with every word spoken. “Lead by example. Would you want me to sit around and wait as the opportunity for something great slips past me? If so, a job well done. You taught me all I know on that front.”

They sat in silence for a few moments. Viv watched her father anxiously, waiting for a response more substantial than him staring at the city before them.

When he turned, Vivian felt light headed. He said nothing, but his face was holding a conversation of its own.

When he spoke, there were no hallelujah choruses, no trumpets and fanfare. His words were more than enough of an indication of something great about to come.

“You’re right, Viv.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm contemplating writing additional chapters, after this story is complete, from the point of view of other characters. There was a lot going on in Oliver's head, but I was committed to keeping this as Vivian central as I could, even if it made the chapter not as fun. Anyway, thanks for reading :)


	5. Watching Multiple Romance Films Makes Viv A Date Guru, This Is A Fact.

“Are you going to stare at me this entire ride back home, or will you be taking in the gorgeous scenery?”

Oliver’s grin was just as large as Vivian’s, except she was directing it towards her father while he was smiling like a dork at the road.

“How can you be so calm? You admitted that you do in fact make heart eyes at Felicity, and you want to cruise down the street like this isn’t earth shattering.”

“We’re on a cliff, Vivian. Driving to main land would be the best course of action if the earth was shattering.” His usually dry delivery was not present; instead it was laced with amusement from his confession, or possibly more so of Viv’s reaction to his admission. 

“Did you really think I was unaware of my feelings for Felicity?” He was genuinely curious about his daughter’s thought process, especially since her response was tinted somewhat with shock. “It’s something that surprised you and maybe took you off guard a little?” He was searching for answers. Earlier, Viv noticed he seemed a bit hurt by her giddiness, but she couldn’t imagine why, so she answered him as truthfully as she could in hopes that he would understand her reaction.

“Considering that she lives with us, she’s been around forever, and that the two of you aren’t together, I had no other choice but to believe that you were clueless.” She ticked off her points on her fingers, waving her hand around a bit before she started tapping her fingers together to release all her pent up excitement. 

It took her a minute to grasp what he asked her. Thinking back to their life changing conversation, it seemed as though he was less, “Eureka!” and more, “How can I phrase this?”

“You’ve thought about this before? Seriously thought about it, I mean, not just singing Carpenters songs in your head and carving your initials in trees?” 

“Pretty sure I have no idea who the Carpenters are, but yes. I have significantly thought about pursuing a relationship with Felicity.” He was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. 

“That’s a bit of a shock, Pops. Any reason why you didn’t convince yourself you needed to do this sooner?” 

For someone who wasn’t keen on looking out the window before, she suddenly found interest in the corded trees just in time to miss the hesitant face Oliver made.

“Regardless of any of that, I’m ready to take this seriously now. The same issues that keep getting brought up are what stopped me from moving forward. You gave me the push I needed, Viv.”

“Any pushing you need to be done, I can do for you. Except maybe when it comes to pushing people off of high places. And drugs, no drug pushing. And also, if we can help it, I’d prefer to not push up daisies.”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “You’re already an expert at pushing the envelope.”

She groaned, which in turn made him scoff. “Why’s it okay when you do it, but when I do it, automatically I’m doing a ‘Dad joke’?”

Viv tapped a finger to her chin pretending to be lost in thought with a hum.

“But really, Viv. I’m serious about this. I may have been scared off before, but I promise you I will work on my relationship with Felicity.”

She leaned over to rest a hand on his shoulder in support. “I’m unbelievably happy about that.” 

As she rested back in her seat and took in the nature around her she got lost in her own head. She couldn’t exactly picture him sitting Felicity down and talking to her about his feelings, but since he said he would try, she believed him. Viv didn’t exactly plan to blurt out her question earlier. She had the sudden urge to do it and couldn’t stop herself. Sure, it turned out fine in the end, but there was something a bit off-putting about planning to talk about something this serious. It would somewhat feel like an interrogation. She could see Felicity in a dark room, light swinging overhead and her father across a desk asking her if she knew how much he loved her. She almost laughed out loud at the absurdity. 

She knew enough about life so far to realize that any time the words “we need to talk” came up, it brought along severe anxiety along with it. She nearly collapsed when her dad said that to her one night a few weeks back. Prior to the dreaded words being spoken, she downloaded a free ebook as a promotion. At the time she didn’t realize that it was intended for a mature audience. She read through it with ease, fearing that this would become her new hobby. Though she could probably hide it from her dad, nothing could stop Felicity Smoak from realizing what was going on- an addiction to cheesy romance novels. 

When he told her they needed to chat, she feared that it was going to be a lecture on how porn depicted in books and in videos on the internet skewed the perception of what sex really is. She had gotten “The Talk” already, one where she brought up more points than Oliver offered in his watered down version, only to prove to him that it was highly unnecessary to take the conversation any further. She was very close to her father and felt like she could share hopes, dreams, and aspirations with him, but she would very much prefer to have those kinds of talks with Felicity or Thea. It turned out that all her worrying was for naught because he was only wanted to talk to her about a graduation party. 

When you tell someone you want to talk with them, their minds immediately began to focus on every terrible thought possible. How would her father get Felicity calm before talking about something this serious? It would only make sense to have a sort of date planned where it was just the two of them and ease into that conversation while morale was high, wouldn’t it? 

“How are you going to break it to Felicity?”

He laughed, “You make it sound like I’m setting her up for a disappointing conversation.”

“I’m just saying, blurting out that you love her is kind of sweet I guess, but it’s also very intense unless it’s the right time. Even though she loves you too, it might scare her off.”

He blushed deeply and her eyes nearly popped out from her head. 

“Please, oh please tell me you weren’t planning on doing that.”

He looked bashful, but also a twinge hurt. “Why is that so wrong? If I noticed how I felt and wanted her to know where I am, why is that an issue? I’m being upfront.”

“Yeah, upfront seven years ago may have been okay. She loves you too, but it’s been so long that she just placed you in a box marked, “Never going to happen”. I mean that’s what I’m guessing anyway. Whenever you two get into your flirty-flirt moods it’s always her saying something inappropriate, you responding back with something smooth, and then her blushing and changing the subject. It’s like she doesn’t think it’s real and is trying to keep you at a distance.”

Oliver’s face scrunched up severely. He was the most thoughtful looking raisin Viv had ever seen. 

“Why would this be such a shock to her? You know it and I know it; even Tommy, who failed out of more colleges than me, can tell how much I want her.” He took a deep breath. “I just need her to understand and to not freak out. She always had an awful habit of running when she gets scared. I need her to not do that. There’s a lot that I can handle, but being the reason why she would want to run is not something I’m equipped to deal with.”

Viv bit her lip. She could tell that Oliver was holding back just how anxious the thought of losing Felicity made him. 

“You gotta do this slowly, Dad. Ease into it. Get her to see that this is serious for you. Go on a non-date.”

“I know that I’m older. Youth keeps creating new slang, and the definitions I find on Urban Dictionary when I want to understand what you’re talking about horrify me deeply. But for the love of my sanity, can you please tell me what a ‘non-date’ is. It includes words I’ve heard before, but I have no clue what they are.”

Every so often Oliver would express his disappointment with the evolution of slang and his inability to grasp it as he once could in his youth. Every time this happened, Vivian would laugh it off. This was no exception. 

“Worry not my good sir. ‘Tis a word of my own creation.” 

“Many thanks. So what does that mean, a non-date?”

“A date without classifying as a date.”

Oliver raised a single eyebrow. “Are you being deliberately unhelpful?”

Viv lifted her hands in protest. “I’m trying to explain, hold on.” She twirled a loose strand of hair through her fingers before continuing. “It’s like you two spend time together alone, as if it were a date. But you never label it as such! Plan something out that’s fun for the two of you. Go play mini golf or some other stereotypical date thing. And then at the end of the day you tell her,” at this point Viv made her voice deeper, “’Felicity this was a lot of fun. We should do this more often because we never get to spend time alone. I always enjoy being with you.’” She went back to her regular speech pattern. “Or something like that.”

“But how do I get her to go out with me to begin with.” He took a hand off the wheel to run through his hair in a tell of anxiety to Viv.

This gave her a good chuckle. Oliver Queen was acting like a nervous schoolboy. He glanced over at the sound of her amusement. 

“What’s that for?”

She shook her head. “Is this how you used to score chicks back in the day? Rub your sweaty palms on your pants, and ask Tommy how to get it done?”

He smiled, but there was no amusement behind it. “I’m not picking up a chick, Viv. I’m not a stupid teenager either. I’m trying to convince the woman I love that I want to spend time alone with her.”

She made a grabbing motion at him. “Phone please.”

He took the device out of his jacket pocket and handed it over.

“What are you looking up?”

She pushed his password in while answering, “I’m gonna ask Felicity out.”

Viv wasn’t sure how it was possible that they stayed on the road, because as soon as the words left her lips, Oliver grabbed the phone from her hands.

“Not necessary at all. Just tell me what to say and I’ll text her later.”

While the action was a bit strange, she chalked it up to being a weird action made by a person too in love to think rationally and let it pass.

“I was thinking maybe tell her that I’m hanging with Thea tonight and you don’t want to be cooped up all night alone. Then ask her if she wants to go do something.”

He let the idea sink in for a bit before responding. “Do you think Felicity would like to go to the carnival on Grand Avenue?”

She smiled brightly, “I think she’d love it.”

He looked satisfied and relieved by her answer. 

After pulling into their driveway, he pulled his phone out from his pocket again and played with it in his hands, not texting Felicity like she expected him to.

“Are you nervous?” She was chewing on her cheek in her own show of anxiety. She was a ball of nerves worrying about how everything would go, and she wasn’t even the one going on the date.

He didn’t respond, and instead opened his messenger to text Felicity quickly.

Oliver looked into his daughter’s eyes with a smug smile. “Not nervous anymore.”

“Atta boy. Let’s go look for something for you to wear.”

While Oliver was showering, Viv laid on his bed playing solitaire on her own phone. She was searching for a 6 of clubs when she heard her father’s phone chimed with a message. 

Her heart started racing. Thankfully she heard the shower water turn off.

“Dad, your phone!”

She heard a mumbled, “Shit!” and moments later a soaking wet Oliver Queen ran out of the bathroom in a pair of sweats. 

He made eye contact with her before unlocking his phone.

A stony expression passed his face before he slowly put his phone down.

She felt her heart break a little. 

“Dad?” She questioned softly.

He looked down gathering his potential date clothes and placing them back in their correct places.

“Felicity’s gonna stay with Donna tonight.”

It had been forever and a day since Felicity stayed with her mother. She was almost always home with them. And turning down a carnival was so un-Felicity, it was sort of frightening. 

He sat on the bed still staring at his phone.

It hurt her to see him this disappointed. In an effort to cheer him up she went to his dresser and pulled out one of the shirts he recently put away.

“Hey, I kinda want to go to a carnival. Will you win me a teddy bear?”

Oliver tried to hide his disappointment with a grin, but it was one of the saddest things she had ever seen.

“Sure, sweetheart. Go get ready. I’m going to win you the biggest bear they have.”

She smiled weakly and walked to her room.

Something was going on. Something big. She wasn’t sure yet, but she would get to the bottom of this. She got this far, damn it! She’s was not about to give up now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :O What???!?


	6. Milk Bottles, Blocks, And Viv's Gut: Some Things That Get Slugged At The Carnival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I'M SO SORRY! I HAD TO DELETE THIS CHAPTER AND RE-UPLOAD IT! IT CUT OFF :( 
> 
> I know what you're thinking, "Daniela, is this a new chapter already?"
> 
> Yes. Yes it is.

The car ride to the carnival was quiet. Not just the average reticence, or the traditional awkward silence. This was the kind of quiet that made you hear your own pulse. Her father’s expensive car that he just _had_ to have was equipped with practically nonexistent cabin noise. She was contemplating jumping from the passenger side. The old “tuck and roll” when flying out of a moving vehicle. Not that she would actually do it, but anything would be better than sitting there with Oliver and his droopy face.

She imagined he was thinking about how this ride would have gone had it been a pretty blonde sitting shotgun instead of her. Felicity would no doubt have been babbling about crane games and funnel cake not realizing that at the end of the night Oliver, with a racing heart, would change their relationship forever. Whether or not she agreed to a relationship with him, there would have been no taking it back. Their dynamic would be changed forever.

But that wasn’t the case. It was all just a fantasy. None of that could happen because Felicity was not here. She was with _Donna_.

Viv loved Donna Smoak. How could she not? Donna was the sacred vessel that made one of Viv’s top three favorite people ever, a list Felicity’s name shares with Oliver and whoever the hell invented a tampon. But regardless of how appreciative she was of Donna, at this moment, Viv was slightly agitated with the Smoak matriarch. Not that Donna could help it; she wasn’t aware that Oliver had these plans. If Donna knew, the high pitched squeal she would inevitably make would cause all of Starling’s dog population run wild. Since she was tucked away in the car, no rabid beasts in sight, she assumed that Oliver’s top secret -and now backfired- plan was still only known to the two practically mute people in the car.

It was getting darker which helped to clearly identify where the carnival had set up. It wasn’t that you couldn’t tell from the ginormous Ferris wheel where the festival was; but the blinding neon lights that blinked in weird but alluring patterns on the huge Ferris wheel in the distance was less easy to ignore.

Oliver parked the car, coming around to the passenger side to open Viv’s door and take her hand.

“Are you gonna vomit on the Himalayas again this year?” Oliver seemed to be closer to normal now that they weren’t locked in the car, so she played along. “Fake it till you make it,” and all that.

“First of all, I ralphed _after_ I got off the Himalayas. And second of all, you scoffing at all the kids trying to shoot out those red stars was way more embarrassing.”

He laughed and responded without thought, “Not as bad as Felicity’s attempt at basketball.” The first genuine smile he had in hours disappeared into a wistful one when he realized he was thinking about Felicity.

Viv rubbed his arm looking up into his eyes that didn’t meet hers. “Hey,” she whispered softly with a pause until he looked at her, “You’ll figure it out. But for now, you promised a young girl with a great memory a giant stuffed animal. She wants you to pay up on that agreement.

Oliver grabbed her chin with a soft shake. “Show me what you want.”

Viv twirled in a circle too take it all in. She wasn’t pleased with any of the choices available so she dragged him around the grounds.

On their way towards the other half of the site, they played a few games. Viv put some quarters down on a candy roulette table, winning a bag of flying saucer wafers. They both tried to win some electronics from a crane, but that only ended with frustration and lines about how they’re rigged. Oliver pulled Viv along when she laid her eyes on the game that gave out goldfish when they finally came across a stuffed animal that pleased Viv. It was a huge panda that would take effort and planning to fit into the car for the ride home. The game? Archery.

Viv was lamenting about how much she wanted the panda and the misfortune they had at it being a difficult game.

Oliver’s face told her he was about twelve different types of confused.

“How is archery more difficult than the free throw hoops? The hoops are small and oval and the balls are over-inflated. I got this Viv, just you watch.”

She wanted to put all of her faith in him at that moment, but something about today made her just a little less devoted. Viv wanted to blame Felicity for it, but how could she? Felicity didn’t know how she bruised her father’s heart (not to mention his ego as well, Viv guessed). It took a lot of _hutzpah_ for Oliver to not only admit his feelings to her but to also act on them, all in the same day! If Felicity knew, she would be so proud of him.

Viv watched as Oliver paid the attendant for the arrows. He gave the bow a good look, learning the feel of it in his hands before briefly touching the fletching and nocking the arrow. Viv didn’t even have time to think about how at ease he looked before the arrow flew across the designated yard area for the stand and hit the bullseye with ease. She never knew shooting arrows could look so graceful, but apparently Oliver Queen could make that possible. She clapped loudly, earning a smile from her father who currently had a bowstring next to his lips.

She laughed when she realized that the four bulls eyes he needed for the panda were intended to be in separate targets, but instead her dad decided to get each and every one in the same board. Show off.

Viv squealed with delight at the toy he won for her.

“Where did those skills come from, Legolas?”

He ruffled her hair. “What? Am I not allowed to have a hobby? Should I just go play squash like a good CEO?”

Viv gave him a confused frown, “Since when is the sport of choice not golf?”

“Golf is for what you play for business deals. Squash is just for ‘fun’ and to get to know your partners better.”

Viv pursed her lips in thought. “Huh, you learn something new every day.”

As they walked deeper into the fairgrounds, a panda on Viv’s hip, and cotton candy in hand, she spotted the high slides.

“Would you be willing to bearysit for me while I go plummeting from an outrageous height at breakneck speed?”

“I think I can manage that. Just as long as I can get a bite of that cotton candy.”

“We have ourselves a deal. Panda, please take it easy on Pops. He’s a Grampa now. An arrow wielding grandfather, but still an old man any way you slice and dice it.”

Oliver gave a groan. “Please don’t even joke about having kids, Viv. I don’t think I could handle it.”

She almost asked him if he would mind having a baby around if it was another one of his own, but bit her tongue. Now was not the time to bring up babies and inevitably the blonde he wanted to be the mother of those babies. He was finally looking better.

Viv gave her ticket to the man collecting them and grabbed her burlap sack to climb up the metal stairs. She always enjoyed the view from great heights, something that she knew made both her father and Felicity uneasy.

When she finally got to the top she placed her sack down and waited patiently to be told it was her turn to push off. Viv was looking at the ground and how much smaller everyone looked from the top of the slide when she noticed a familiar blonde not too far away from where she left her dad.

She barely even heard the attendant tell her to go before she shoved at the slide with the force of a titan.

As she hit each bump down, Viv kept her eyes trained on the blonde hair and bright dress. What the hell was she doing here?

Viv reached the bottom, throwing the sack over the gate and exiting without even giving Oliver a second glance. He noticed her deep concentration at the crowd and trailed behind her.

She got closer to her intended target and tapped on her arm.

The blonde gave a squee of surprise before grabbing Viv to her chest.

“VIVI! Oh my gosh, it’s been weeks! Are you excited for the summer? When do you graduate? Our little high schooler, Quentin look!”

Captain Lance gave her a big smile, “Hey sweetie. How are you doing? And where’s your dad?”

Vivian shook her head. “Who cares, what are you doing here Donna?”

Donna looked taken aback by the flippant response, and blinked slowly in response. Viv’s tone wasn’t demanding, it was dripping with curiosity, but it was still a bit of a shock.

Donna took it in stride. “I saw that the carnival was today, and I figured it’s date night so why not make it a carnival date night? Who’d you come with, hon?”

Viv tried to check her emotions, but she could feel her ability to do so slipping away.

“Yeah, Dad’s over there. We asked Felicity to come but she said she was busy with you. Which kind of is impossible, because here you are with no Felicity in sight.”

She didn’t realize that Oliver was behind her until he placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Hey guys,” he gave a quick greeting to the couple before squeezing his daughter lightly, but firm enough to make a point. “Viv, knock it off.”

She shrugged away from his grip and turned around whispering lowly. “She lied dad. She told us one thing and did another. How are you okay with that?”

He gave a stern face. “That’s her business, Vivian. It’s not something that you just go around and talk about with everyone.” He broke their eye contact and focused on the blonde.

‘I’m sorry about her, Donna. It’s been a rough day.”

She gave him a knowing smile. “It’s fine Oliver. I had one of those once,” she said motioning to Viv. Donna bumped her shoulder with Quentin. “Any of this seem familiar?”

He scoffed. “Please. I did my time. With two girls. Viv’s a breeze.”

Vivian hated being talked about like she wasn’t there. She also loathed that they were bringing her age into the conversation as if she had no control over her emotions that caused her to lash out. It may have been true, because she was positively boiling with rage and about three other emotions that she couldn’t name or control, but they didn’t have to have a whole discussion about it. Was there a group of medical interns anywhere with clipboards that wanted to take notes on her, too? Anybody who wanted to use their carnival tickets for the clown show?

She didn’t know if out of body experiences were an option for a thirteen year old, but damn, was this close to it. She felt like she was watching herself get angry and couldn’t convince it to stop. She was taking this anger, anger at Felicity’s lies, out on Donna who didn’t deserve it at all.

That made her want to cry on top of it all. Cry. In public. At a carnival. Just like the baby they all made her feel like. She felt the tears welling up.

“I’m sorry. Donna, Captain Lance. It was nice to see you.” Her voice was shaking. For fuck’s sake it was just getting worse. “Dad, I want to go home. Now.”

Viv walked off before he could respond. She didn’t know what he was telling the duo, and she didn’t care. She had to get out of there. He was probably apologizing for her behavior. She didn’t blame him. If this was a mood swing, she decided that they were wildly misnamed. They should be called mood tire swings. Constantly spinning around in multiple directions all over the place making you dizzy and nauseated and unable to identify what’s happening on solid ground.

She stood at the passenger door waiting for her dad to show up and willing the tears to not fall. The door beeped and she could hear Oliver behind her, stuffing the panda in the backseat before she jumped in and slammed the door shut.

It was only a minute later that he got in the car, but didn’t start it. Instead he kept his eyes on Viv, which only succeeded in making tears fall. Could she just cry alone in peace without an audience?

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Of course she did? But what about “it” did she want to start with?

“Why did she lie?”

Oliver let a large exhale out from his nose. “I’m sure she has her reasons. Sometimes you just need time alone and living with us is not the most alone environment, you know.”

She felt like he just put the “kid gloves” on and gave her the Barney answer.

“Can we just go home please?”

He stared at her and her wet cheeks for another minute before he nodded and put the keys in the ignition. “Yeah, let’s get you home.”

When they pulled up to their home, Viv pulled her panda out from the seats behind her while Oliver got the door open. She trudged inside, looking quite ridiculous. A crying teenager with a big ass panda. Guess it was anger’s turn for a ride again.

She was on her way upstairs when she stopped and turned to look at her dad, who was watching her patiently, hands in pockets.

“Are you gonna call her out on it?”

“Viv-“

“No. She lied point blank to you and you’re okay with this? Why is that okay?”

“Vivia-“

“No, Dad! This is bullshi-“

“VIVIAN!”

His thunderous voice echoed down the halls, causing her to flinch. He walked closer to her.

“I don’t think I should have to remind you, but you’re thirteen years old and this is absolutely none of your business.”

She was momentarily shocked. “None of my- None of my business? How exactly is this not my business? This was my plan. This is my life too, you know. Felicity makes me happy, you know? I love her very much and she lied! And you’re just letting it happen. My dreams. Your potential relationship, and here you are unfazed. It’s not normal dad, and I don’t know why you’re making it out to be.” She was surprised that she was able to verbalize so much that was swimming around in her head.

“I think you need to continue on down to your room and sleep it off. Maybe in the morning when you’re not hyped up on sugar, we can have a rational discussion.”

He had to mention the fucking sugar like she was a toddler.

She was aching to give him a straight up catty response, but thankfully she couldn’t formulate a ration one in her mind. She would let him be the one who hit below the belt. Basically calling her a baby when she was trying to explain her anger was a low blow, but she wouldn’t let him have the last word.

She stomped up the stairs throwing a, “Whatever,” over her shoulder. Not the best comeback, but it was the safe alternative.

When she got to her room she threw the panda on her bed, only to jump on top of him, using him as support while she cried.

After a good half hour of nothing but fluid leaking from her face out of every orifice, she felt much calmer. She decided to shower away the carnival dirt grime from her legs, why did she wear flip flops and shorts to a carnival anyway, and also cleanse herself from the terrible day she had.

Now dressed in her pajamas and Panda the panda situated properly on her bed was she ready to rest. Viv grabbed her phone from the dresser and plugged it in before inspiration struck. Felicity was up to something and Viv was going to catch her on it. The lies were unexpected and hurtful. Viv would not stand for it.

She turned her camera on and cuddled to Panda taking a sweet looking picture that she sent to Felicity with the caption, “Look what Daddy won me! He is the best.” Just to remind her what a catch Oliver Queen was.

Viv didn’t expect the almost immediate response.

Felicity: So CUTE! What’s his name?

Vivian was stunned. She text her only hoping to get Felicity’s mind off of what ever made her lie to them and leave, and instead focus on how much she misses the Queens. So Viv continued to text her.

Viv: Panda. But after the song, not the animal.  
Felicity: lol. Isn’t the song after the car? Panda after the song, that’s after the car, that looks like a panda’s coloring. Russian doll situation!!  
Viv: I’m funny admit it.  
Felicity: Sure if you say so.  
Viv: I do! Btw Your mom’s outfit was so cute today.That’s why you ditched today?  
Felicity: ?

Viv smiled to herself. It was so easy.

Viv: Dad told me you were spending time with Donna today, which is why he begged me to come to the carnival with him.  
Felicity: Hmm. Idk why he’d say that Viv. I just needed some time to code. I have that meeting with that Mr. Tucker guy who was interested in some code I was writing, remember?

Shit, she did remember that. He did a video call while Viv was home last week. Felicity even told her she might need to take some time to finish it up. She usually would lock herself in the basement when she needed to ‘college code’ as she called it, but she did remember once when she was about 9 when Felicity rented a hotel room and didn’t sleep for three nights while she redid an entire program for some company.

Felicity: I gotta go babe. Coffee is done. I’m picking you up from school tomorrow, so I’ll see you then. Sleep tight. Love you <3  
Viv: Love you too, good luck.

Viv didn’t remember typing out her response. Felicity’s alibi held up. That left Oliver as the liar. The sneaky, calm acting, phone protecting liar! In her own home too!

This was becoming ridiculous, honestly. Who needs a carnival when her whole life is a fricking roller coaster already?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it.


	7. Viv Gets More of A Cerebral Workout At Lunch Than In Class

Viv woke up an hour and a half before her alarm had the chance to beep and buzz. Not only did she awaken earlier than necessary, but she also felt no need to go back to sleep. Normally, waking up even ten minutes before her alarm would result in a single teardrop of joy followed by deep contented snoring 

This morning was different, and she couldn’t decide if it was the good kind or not.

She expected to toss and turn the entire night as a result of mental over-exhaustion. The day before started with an “early” wakeup from her father and didn’t end until she reached highs and lows of nearly every emotion. She felt embarrassed by asking her father questions about his relationship, elation at his agreement to make a move on the Felicity front, anguish at Felicity’s “rejection” and lies, and then a mixture of so many feelings at once when realizing that her father was a certifiable con artist. She expected her night to be spent plotting and planning any future moves, but somewhere after texting Felicity she must have fallen asleep.

Viv guessed that her body was fully rested or perhaps her mind subconsciously wanted to give her the opportunity to speak with her father. He worked better in the daylight. Yesterday morning she could see the clear disappointment on his face after waking her when he told her Felicity was gone, but that evening Viv couldn’t recognize that he was lying to her about Felicity’s whereabouts. Maybe the morning light made deceiving his daughter more difficult. Whatever the case, she pulled her short silk bathrobe from its hook and began to make her trek downstairs.

The house smelt of Oliver’s French toast. Her stomach grumbled with the first notes of cinnamon that hit her senses. She walked into the kitchen hoping to see him in a better mood at the stove, but instead it was empty. All that she could see as she walked in was a covered plate on the counter and a note bearing her name on top of it. She took a step towards the items, but before she could move any further, she was shaken by a voice from the table behind her.

“Hey stranger! You’re up early.”

It was Thea sitting at the table, tablet standing in front of her, and a cup of coffee in hand.

“Jeeze Thea, can you wait to scare me after I go to the bathroom? I think I just wet myself.”

“No coffee for you then, you’re already too jittery.” She set her coffee on the table. “Why are you up so early? Your dad said I’d have to get creative with wake-up methods for you.” Thea frowned. “I was actually looking forward to that. I searched YouTube for some authentic baby cries. Wanna listen? That’s what you can look forward to if you get Lis and Ollie together.”

 Viv rolled her eyes and walked over to her aunt, sitting on her lap and giving a big hug. “Oh Thea, you have no idea the stress I’ve been through.”

Thea dragged her coffee cup over to her niece. “Take a sip for some courage, and then tell Auntie Thea all about it.”

Viv took the mug to her lips and swallowed only a teaspoon full before nearly gagging. “I know diabetes doesn’t run in the family, but you’re pushing your luck with that concoction. How much sugar is in there?”

Thea was affronted. “You’re just like your father. You both are so bitter because of the terrible coffee you enjoy. Who voluntarily drinks black coffee? Absolutely disgusting.”

As if the coffee had the magical properties Felicity always claimed it did, Viv remembered why she was in the kitchen to begin with.

“Where is the DNA donor, anyway? I was hoping to have a heart to heart.”

“He had to leave early this morning. Some major crisis at the company. I didn’t one hundred percent listen. I only caught the ‘Can you take Viv to school’ part, which I think was probably the key element of the conversation, so it was good enough for me. He left you a note though. Looked a little sad while writing it. But I didn’t peek, I swear!”

Thea pointed to the counter that Viv was originally heading for. Viv left the table, making her way deeper into the kitchen again. She picked the letter up and was warmed by the sight of her father’s blocky writing.

It read:

_Morning sweetheart._

_I tried to talk to you before I went to sleep last night, but you were practically comatose. I should’ve handled last night better than I did, and I’m sorry for that. You were angry and had every right to be. I can understand why this situation has us both feeling tense, but last night I let it go far enough that it made us upset with each other. The biggest mistake was letting you go to bed without talking. Running away never solves anything. Even if you need some space to breathe, it should always be followed by levelheaded, or as level as we can make it, discussion. Maybe tonight we can talk it out?_

_Until then, Thea is here to take you to school. And I made you your favorite breakfast as a peace offering._

_Good luck on your last week as an eighth grader._

_I love you more than I could ever fit on this paper._

_Xoxo Dad_

Viv sighed. She was ready to be aggressive and demanding with her Dad, but she couldn’t be after a letter like that. She would have to take on a different approach when telling him that she knew about lying of the text message variety.

“Thea, please tell me life gets less complicated in high school.”

Thea huffed a laugh. “Sure, if you want me to lie to you. What’s the matter Viv?” She walked over to where her niece stood by the sink, and kissed the young girl’s forehead.

Viv wrapped her arms around her aunt. “Dad’s a liar.” Thea raised one flawlessly groomed eyebrow. “Can you be a little more specific?”

Viv took a deep breath and filled her aunt in on the specifics of the previous day, and the contents of his morning letter while sitting at the kitchen table.

Thea chewed on her lip in contemplation. “Are we sure that Felicity is telling the truth?”

“I don’t think we can be sure about anything, but it does check out. I remember her talking about having a meeting last week. But normally she codes in the basement, so that’s something new.”

While Viv kept a close eye on her aunt’s facial expressions showing deep contemplation, Thea ran a finger around the rim of her mug.

“What’s the plan from here Viv? Somebody is lying. How will you get to the bottom of this?”

Viv tipped her head down while maintaining eye contact and gave her lips a slight pout.

“Oh no. Why don’t you try that on Tommy or Dig? Ollie needs brotalk, or dudespeak or whatever. He’s going to turn his life into a parable for me because of the whole Roy situation, and no bit of it will be about helping him get his own life in ord-“

“Thea I just need you to get Felicity out of the house tonight. He’s going to be skittish, and I need to really chat without him looking over his shoulder worrying about her hearing.”

Thea sighed loudly in relief. “Thank god. I can show a lady a good time. And I mean that in the most nonsexual way ever. Does Felicity’s rambling come through by the power of saying her name three times?”

 “I hope to every internet service provider it doesn’t. But seriously, you’re the best ever and I love you.” Viv grabbed her aunt’s face and kissed her all over.  

“Please eat your pancakes and go brush your teeth. That breath could kill a pack of Pomeranians.”

Viv jumped off Thea with a smile. “I am so grateful to you that I’m not even going to correct you on my impending meal.”

Viv was popping the plate into the microwave when she saw Thea’s slightly anxious stance. She set the timer and asked her aunt, “What’s up?”

“Can I let Sara in on all this? I think we’ll have a better chance of getting Felicity out of the house after coding if it’s a team effort. And teams work best if everyone knows the plan.” It was Viv’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Thea’s story was convincing, but her rushed tone negated it. “And I also like to hold information over Sara’s head, no big deal.”

“Yeah, just zip it, lock it, and put it in your pocket in front of Felicity. We don’t need any more plans ruined.”

◊

Vivian’s day at school was practically useless. Not only was it her last week as an eighth grader (and not even a full week at that), she now had her father and Felicity to worry about. While any teacher would see her disengagement as a sign of daydreaming about graduation and summer break, it was impossible to fool her friends, especially at the lunch table.

“And that’s when I told your dad, ‘No, it’s impossible for me to marry you.’ Think about it, I couldn’t be Viv’s stepmom, it would be too weird.”

Viv snapped out of her thoughts on hiring a family counselor in time to hear the tail end of her friend Cecelia’s conversation. Viv’s face went from distant pensiveness to outright disgust.

“Is it necessary for you to include _my_ father in your Lolita fantasies? Like seriously dude, pick anybody else.”

Cecelia took a swig from her bottle of sparkling water with a roll of her eyes. “We were talking to you for five minutes and you didn’t answer. We are allowed to use any and all methods of interruption necessary.”

“Yeah, but using Oliver Queen and his extreme hotness is just lazy. We can all do that. It’s not clever,” Mae jumped in, though Viv wasn’t sure if it was truly in her defense.

Viv threw her bunched up napkin in the vague direction of the two girls across the table, before looking next to her at Ramona. “Anything you want to add about my father?”

“Nothing I’m willing to say in front of you.”

“Good, now that we’ve got that over with, you want to help me solve some of my daddy issues? And no Cecelia, not like that.”

The girls looked intrigued, so Viv started her story without waiting to hear if they were ready.

“The never-ending saga of Oliver and Felicity has been pissing me off and I decided they need to be together.”

“So you’re trying to get your dad laid?” Cecelia was now playing with her water bottle as if it were a phallus. A good old sparkling water hand job.  

Mae smacked her hand. “Calm down horn dog. So what’s going on, Viv? What’s the issue?”

“I got him to ask her out, but he told me Felicity text him saying she was with her mom.”

“Donna is bae. I want to be like her when I grow up.” Nobody was surprised by Cecelia’s need to comment on Donna, but Ramona, annoyed by the hormone ridden interruptions kicked her. “Too bad you can’t be like her, because Donna has brains. All you have is a big mouth that evens out your huge rack, and an inability to listen to a fucking story. Shut up and let the woman speak.”

Ramona got nothing more than a stuck out tongue from Cecelia, so Viv continued.

“So we go to a carnival later and I see Donna there. No Felicity, just Donna and Captain Lance,” Viv didn’t take a pause, “sohelpmegod Cecelia if words come out of your mouth.” Cecelia flipped her off subtly making it look like she was rubbing her eye.

“So I ran over to her all annoyed asking her what was up, and Dad gets mad for me being rude. But fuck that, Felicity lied and he’s being calm. We get home and argue some more, he tells me I’m on a sugar rush and to go to bed. I text Felicity pretending he and I had an awesome time and I show her a panda he won me, and get this,” the three girls leaned in closer to Viv, “she answers right away.”

“Obviously the dude wasn’t any good, because she’s on her phone instead of being ravaged. She deserves much better. Like your dad.” Cecilia high fived Mae for giving a response completely expected from the former.

Ramona looked confused. “She wasn’t really with a dude, was she? 

Viv raised her shoulders. “I don’t think so, she had a tight alibi. Last week she told me about a meeting with some guy for her program. She said she was in a hotel coding. Which she did once a while ago. It’s not completely far-fetched. I really think my dad was lying though.”

Cecelia looked Viv in the eyes. “You have to check these texts, Viv.”

Of all the things Vivian expected to hear as a solution, that was not one of them.

“You want me to go through my father’s phone and see what he was talking to Felicity about? That’s something you think is logical?”

Mae nodded along. “Absolutely. He lied before, he’ll lie again. He must be hiding something.”

“I would freak if he looked at my messages though.”

Ramona spoke while chewing on her breadstick, “Yeah but he would do it to you if he felt it was necessary. If he thought you were on drugs, his hands would be on your phone so fast!”

Viv pursed her lips and squinted her eyes, puzzled by her friend's apparent stupidity. “If I was worried about him with drugs I wouldn’t hesitate.”

Mae raised her thermos of iced coffee in a salute, “Then you figured it out: it’s not that important of a situation. If it were, you ‘wouldn’t hesitate’” she added with finger quotes “to look through some messages. He never has to find out what you saw, but you can use it to your advantage. If you were stupid and got caught, it’s only a minor setback. Lose a battle, win the war.”

Viv twirled her spaghetti around her fork while she heard the other two girls hum in agreement. Could she in good conscience look through her father’s phone? He normally would let her do whatever she wanted with his technology, but he was a little weird when she told him she was going to text Felicity from his phone. Would that seriously be the only way? Viv drifted deeper and deeper into thought.

“If you do look though his phone and see some nudes though, can you just let me know they exist?”

“Fuck off, Cecelia.”

◊

Vivian all but ran out the doors of Starling Prep. She looked around the large campus in search of Felicity’s car when she spotted the blonde sitting on a bench in the courtyard.

Viv sprinted to her side making enough noise to get Felicity’s attention off of her phone.

“How was school today Miss Almost-A-Highschooler?”

Viv blew a raspberry. “That good, huh? Did the carnival yesterday awaken your desire to join the circus?”

Viv scoffed, “Leave this circus to join another one? I don’t think so.” She stood up and offered Felicity her hand. “Can we get ices before we go home? It’s hot and they’re delicious. 

“Is Google the best search engine? Or course we can!”

◊

On the way back to the house, Felicity filled Viv in on the meeting with Mr. Tucker and how she made an amazing deal on her program. They continued chatting about various things, and when Felicity told Viv of Thea’s plans to go out later, Viv pretended to be surprised.

Before Felicity went up to get herself ready for Thea’s carpool to dinner, Viv suggested that maybe the girls’ night was a way to talk about Roy. Viv figured it might start a line of conversation about men and dating and perhaps give Thea and Sara some new details about any Olicity feelings on her part.

Viv sat in the living room, the television on a music channel devoted to 80s hits when she heard the front door opening.

Oliver’s unique footsteps could be heard over Billy Idol. He walked into the living room a bit nervously once he saw Viv was there. She decided to put him out of his apparent misery and smiled.

“Hey Pops. Good day at work?”

He smiled widely. “Not really, but being home more than makes up for it. How was school?”

Viv gagged. “Unnecessary.”

He chuckled at her annoyance, remembering himself at her age. “You’re almost done. Suck it up for another two days.” He scratched his neck. “I’m not in the mood to cook tonight. What should we order?”

Viv put on a hopeful smile, “Greek?”

Oliver loosened his tie and made his way to the hallway. “Alright, I’ll ask Felicity what she wants and then we can. What?”

He stopped his flow of words once he saw Viv shake her head. “Thea is kidnapping Felicity and Sara today. I think it’s about Roy. She needs girl support.”

Oliver looked somewhat surprised, and then it dawned on him that he would spend the evening alone with Viv. At least that’s what she thought happened in his mind that made his face change to one of mild apprehension.

They both heard an excessive amount of beeping outside, which could only come from Sara Lance but the horn was clearly from Thea’s sporty sedan.

Felicity rushed down the stairs almost instantaneously.

“Frack, frack, frack.” She looked to the landing to see Oliver and Viv. “Oliver! You’re home. I heard about the Bespin trade this morning. You did a good job!”

Felicity was talking shop, but it was clear Oliver was not listening to a single word, instead he was focusing on how pretty Felicity looked in her dress.

“Sorry about cutting out, but you’ve met Thea. It’s impossible to say no to her. I won’t be too late.”

As she was going through the door, car horn still blaring, she threw over her shoulder, “Love you guys,” before visibly wincing and slamming the door shut.

Viv waited in the silence of Felicity’s departure for Oliver to say something. Anything. He didn’t, so again, Viv took it on herself to start the conversation.

“About that talk you promised, should we do it now, or after we eat?”

He just looked at Viv in acceptance. She would not let this go on any longer than it already had, and it was abundantly clear he couldn’t escape from her tonight.

 “After it is, I guess. I want that platter thing that has moussaka and pastitsio. And don’t make that frowney face, this isn’t your last meal. We’re having a conversation, not an execution.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like all I write is teenagers rolling their eyes, until I remembered that's all I did as a teenager.
> 
> I feel like a jerk always promising that the answers are coming, but they are seriously almost here! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it, even though it's still all build up and no pay off.


	8. Oliver Queen, The Man With All The Answers

“Well this isn’t awkward at all.”

It had been ten minutes since the food delivery had arrived. Viv and Oliver sat across from each other at the table, neither saying a word. Viv couldn’t tell if it was more uncomfortable that they maintained eye contact through the meal, or if it would have been worse if her dad paid attention only to the plate in front of him. She guessed that it must be a good sign that he wasn’t ignoring her completely.

“You’ve put me in a rough place, Viv. I am actually very hungry and would be much happier to have this _conversation_ after dinner. If I try to make small talk right now, you’d give me a look and some attitude, because it’s not what you want to discuss, and then we’d still sit in silence.”

He made a compelling argument. 

“Sorry. I just don’t want you to think you’re getting out of this.”

He nodded, still chewing on his saganaki before making a show of swallowing. “Fair enough, now eat.”

They sat through their dinner in a more comfortable silence, but it was clear that each was feeling just a little anxiety.

When there was no more food left to consume, Viv stood to place her plates in the dishwasher. Before she could leave the table, Oliver took them from her hands. “I’ll do that. Where do you want to talk?”

“Where will you be most comfortable?”

He gave her a suspicious look that somehow included both a raised eyebrow and squinted eyes. She was sure that face muscles don’t work that way until just now.

“I thought this wasn’t a ‘conversation, not an execution’. Why do we have to worry about where I’ll be comfortable?”

“Dad,” she said with a long winded sigh, “You lied to me about Felicity and Donna. I know, because I text Felicity. You don’t just lie like that out of nowhere. There was a reason that made you feel uncomfortable enough to be dishonest. I want to avoid that this time, hence you being in a comfort zone.”

He was clearly thinking her words over in his head. “How about you go wait on the deck?”

“Is the swing okay?”

“Perfect,” he said with a kiss to her forehead.

Viv walked out the backdoor to the porch before running back inside to grab a lighter. Candles were zen, right? It couldn’t hurt to light the few that they had out back.

She went outside again, this time illuminating the porch. She grabbed a spare pillow off one of the deck chairs, and sat on the bench swing waiting or her father to appear.

As she rocked back and forth waiting, she gazed up at the stars and continued to stare even when she heard the door creaking open.

“It’s beautiful night, tonight. Clear sky, not too breezy, and just cool enough to not be sticky.”

“Hm,” she agreed, “Very calm and relaxing. Maybe nature’s trying to tell you something.”

He snickered sitting on the swing abruptly, causing Viv to shriek.

“What is nature trying to tell me?”

She readjusted herself so she was sitting sideways, legs up on the bench and pillow to her chest. “To chill out. I only want to help you, but you’ve made that ridiculously impossible by lying to me.”

He was looking to the sky and rubbing her knee. “I’m sorry Viv.”

She expected him to continue, but he didn’t. He pushed his feet slowly to give the swing a calm sway while continuing to rub her knee softly.

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Saying, ‘How about from the beginning’ would be a little too expected right now, right?”

He broke from his survey of the night’s sky to look at Viv, determination present in her eyes.

“I told Felicity I loved her.”

Viv wasn’t sure that she was hearing correctly. Felicity always warned her about the dangers of blasting her music so loudly. She took those warnings just as seriously as she did about consuming raw cookie dough, which meant it didn’t affect her choices in the slightest.

She could only blink at her father. “That’s one hell of an opening statement.” She didn’t want to seem overeager and scare him away. “So, uh, when did that happen?”

“When I was in LA.”

“I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to elaborate more on this whole situation. This is where _you_ chose to start this conversation. If this is the beginning, I’m gonna need a preface. Or you know what, how about a whole damn prequel?”

He rolled his head before slinking in the bench to get more comfortable.

“Felicity and I have always had this thing.”

“I’m very aware of this thing, Please continue.”

“I felt like I should make a move. I thought it was abundantly clear that I am in love with her, but apparently it was a bit of a shock to her.”

“In her defense, who calls someone from a different state to tell them you love them. That’s a bonehead move.”

He blushed, and it must’ve been deeply red, because even in the darkness outside with only a few candles to offer brightness, she could tell he was embarrassed.

“I text it to her.”

Viv felt entirely grateful that she was at an age where information like the kind he was offering would not result in her having a heart attack.

“Dad, of all the stupid things you could do, this is probably high at the top. Just behind buying space on a billboard to declare your love.”

“I know, and you made that abundantly clear in the car yesterday.”

Viv recalled her conversation with Oliver where she told him not to scare Felicity off with any sort of blurting about being in love. 

“I guess I was too little too late with that helpful little tidbit, huh?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

She tried to understand how exactly that fit into this predicament they were in where he lied about Felicity’s whereabouts with Donna. But more importantly, she questioned where his desire to text the woman he’d been in love with for at least a decade while he was in a different state and inform her of that fact.

“So what happened exactly? You were in LA on a business trip and said, ‘You know what would be a great idea?’ and then proceeded to text her in the middle of a business meeting?”

“It was late actually. The night before I came home.”

“I’d love to say that I wish I could be in your head, but I’m not sure that you’re entirely sane right now.”

“Before I left for California, Felicity and I got to talking and I brought up the idea of us being together.” His face filled with disappointment in the short break he took before speaking again. “She questioned my motives, whether I was just lonely, or sad that you were getting older. The conversation that started the whole damn thing was about you growing up. You’re going to high school, Viv. Like it or not, you’re not going to spend your time hanging around with us. Before you know it, you’ll be moving out, and Felicity and I are facing that reality. You’re our world, sweetheart. And maybe it is me being lonely, but it’s such a difficult situation. In your average family the parents can lean on each other when it’s time for you kids to grow up and leave. Felicity and I find comfort in one another, but it’s not the same. That’s what I realized when she and I were talking, and God, do I want that with her. To hold her and be there for her and love her.”

Oliver’s conviction while speaking made her eyes glassy. She shifted on the swing so that she could hug him deeply.

“I love you so much, Daddy.”

He kissed her temple, enjoying the bear hug he was wrapped in.

“Felicity got a bit distant after that. I didn’t have the chance to explain myself to her fully in the same way I did with you.  I know for a fact I came on too strong.”

“We can fix this, I know we can.” Felicity may be a bit jumpy about her relationships, but there was no way that hearing his words wouldn’t alleviate so many of her worries.

“She kind of panicked, so I backed off a bit and let her clear her head. But I didn’t get to see her again before I left. So when I was away I wanted to remind her that I wasn’t just going to forget about the discussion we had, and on a whim I text her that I loved her.”

“It’s like you have the most kindhearted intentions in the world mixed with horrific timing.”

“I realized that when I didn’t get a text back from her at all. No diverting me into another conversation, no recognition that I said anything. Completely ignored what I said.”

Viv didn’t realize that they stopped swinging until he rocked the chair gently again.

“When I came home Sunday morning, I tried to talk about it a bit, but she got flustered and ran out of the house.”

“To Donna’s?” She felt terrible for the accusation that slipped into her voice, especially since she knew that Oliver was hurting so badly.

He ran his index finger along the neck of his shirt. “I didn’t know what else to say, Viv. You try telling someone you love them and watch as they run as far away from you as possible. It’s not a great feeling. I didn’t remember where she said she was going, and assumed it was just a lie anyway to get away from me anyway.”

Viv leaned forward, piecing all of the information she was given together. “So wait, what did Felicity text you about your date? She told me she was coding yesterday. What did she tell you that made you lie again about Donna?”

“All the message said was, ‘I need more alone time’. I took it as meaning she needed to be away from me. Even if I did remember about her needing time to finish her project, I’m sure I would still see that message the same way. Our text thread was me telling her I loved her, then me asking her on a date, followed by her response that just shut me out.”

Viv thumped her head on her hand. “I was the one who encouraged you to ask her out. That was all me. She was already shaky about the situation and I just made it worse.”

Oliver rubbed her shoulders. “You didn’t know about any of this, Viv. It’s not your fault that you have a promising career as a motivational speaker ahead of you.”

They sat in silence, Oliver pushing the swing gently and Viv burrowing into his side.

“I need to talk to Felicity.”

“Damn straight you do.” She laughed quietly to herself, remembering the letter he wrote to her this morning.

“Want to let me in on the joke?”

“Did you totally like transfer all your Felicity issues onto me when you were writing that note before you left for work?”

He looked confused, so she continued. “You told me that we should’ve talked before I went to bed last night, and basically that communication is key. If you want, I can give it to you and you can edit it to give to Felicity. Just cross my name out and write hers on top of it.” She was smiling brightly while he was trying hard not so smile at all.

“You may want to also change Dad at the end. Or maybe not, I don’t know what she’s into.”

Her teasing led to a well-deserved noogie.

They stayed on the porch for a little while longer before the wind picked up. They decided to move into the house and watch some television, neither admitting that they were waiting for Felicity to get home.

After both changed into their pajamas, they sat on the couch laughing at the absurdity of four middle aged men pulling pranks on one another. With their focus directed entirely on the program, they didn’t hear Thea’s car pull up or Felicity’s keys in the door.

She walked past the living room peering inside. “Hey guys.”

Viv realized that besides yesterday morning and the brief encounter before she left today, the pair didn’t see each other since he left for Los Angeles. It explained the discomfort that radiated between them.

Felicity pointed at the stairs behind her, “It’s been a long night, I’m just gonna go. Have a good night! 

She all but ran away from them, Oliver shaking his head in amusement.

“That was so weird. You guys need to talk so badly.”

Oliver pursed his lips. “I know that I told you communication is a major key to success,”

“DJ Khaled is so done, Dad,” she interrupted.

“But I think I should hold off until tomorrow to speak with her. What do you think?”

Viv nodded looking at the stairs. “Absolutely. I can make myself scarce and everything.”

The corner of his lips raised slightly. “What did I do to deserve such an amazing kid?”

“Remember when I was standing on the chair in the kitchen when I was five and I lost my balance and fell?”

He nodded along, but was flabbergasted by the direction the conversation took. “Yeah?” He asked, drawing the word out softly.

“You dove to catch me and that bottle of wine fell. It was an offering to the gods. They blessed me with charm and charisma after that. Vivian Elise Queen, gift from the gods.”

“Okay chosen one,” he said with a laugh, “I’m going to bed. Sweet dreams.”

“G’night Pops.”

◊

The next day passed rather quickly. After school, Viv sat in the living room watching an “old” film about a group of kids in a space camp.

Felicity was running some updates on her laptop, but was still paying attention to the TV and Viv’s commentary about the movie.

“Ya know, I always wanted to go to space camp.”

Viv’s head snapped to Felicity. She always loved learning new things about her. “Did you really?”

Felicity smiled, still tapping away on her keyboard. “Yup,” she said with a pop of her lips. “I asked my mom if I could go one summer, but she told me she’d miss me too much.” The clacking stopped, and she looked at Viv. “I was talking to her about it a while ago. She said that she only told me that because she didn’t have the money for it. It kind of broke my heart.” She resumed typing again. “The finding out the truth about it now part I mean. That’s not to say I was cool about my dream being taken away. It was a major bummer when I was a kid, and I was a huge jerk to my mom.”

Viv wasn’t sure what to say. She sat quietly, letting Felicity speak, knowing that her chatter while working was almost always a revelation of her inner thoughts, sort of a stream of consciousness.

“If I knew that money was an issue back then, I wouldn’t have been such a jerk about it. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for her to not be able to give me everything. I’m so lucky to be financially stable enough for my children to go to camp if they want.”

Kid talk? Oh this was a perfect segue into today’s conversation Oliver was planning.

“You want to have kids?”

Felicity froze and blushed softly. “I mean. Uh, yeah. I never really thought about it too much.”

Viv tried to play off her elation as smoothly as possible. “Cool. Would that like make me an honorary big sister?”

The blush that covered Felicity’s face now was almost painful to see. It looked like it was burning her skin. She gave Viv no response, so the young girl continued on.

“You’ve always been like a mom to me. I would cry buckets of tears if I didn’t have some part in your hypothetical children’s lives. I mean, I always wanted to have siblings.”

It was at that moment that Oliver walked through the front door with a soft shout announcing his presence. “I’m home!”

He walked into the living room to see the two women on the couch.

“Hey, I want to cook tonight, c _hicken cordon bleu_. Any oppositions?”

Neither gave him any complaints, so he walked away. Viv turned to Felicity making direct eye contact, only for her eyes to trail where her father was, then back to Felicity again. All the while she kept an amused smile on her face and ended their eye contact with a lift of both her brows and shoulders. It was suggestive and mirrored the looks you might give your best friend when they are around their crush. It was apparently clear that Viv was trying to suggest something about the pair of adults and the women’s conversation direction before Oliver came home.

“This movie is awesome, Felicity. Good choice,” she said before returning her concentration back to the screen.

◊

It wasn’t long before dinner was ready. They all sat at the table and their conversation miraculously was not forced or weird. It was an average dinner despite the fact that afterwards Vivian would disappear to her room waiting anxiously while her parents (for all intents and purposes) would be having a life altering conversation.

She made it through the meal in total control, mostly.

As it became clear that all three of them were almost done eating, Viv’s anxiety picked up.

She finished her food quickly, deciding that the earlier she left, the quicker they would be alone to talk. Viv was just about to express her interest in going to her room when the doorbell rang. 

Panic flooded her face. She didn’t stay to look at Oliver’s expression. Instead she acted on instinct and ran towards the offending noise. 

She unlocked the door quickly, all safety precautions that she was taught about answering front doors gone from her mind. 

“Hey Littlest Queen! Did you miss me?” 

Tommy Merlyn stood in front of her. Apparently he never grew out of the “party crashing” phase he went through in high school and decided to use his talents of being an unwanted guest today.

He stood with his arms out, expecting a hug. Fat chance. He was more likely to get a kick in the nuts and a door slammed in his face.

Viv stood with her mouth wide open, giving him no response. He looked a bit concerned, but then he looked in the house with a smile. 

“Tommy?” He father’s voice was directly behind her, and she must admit, he controlled his anger quite well. Much better than her.

 How many bottles of wine had to be smashed for the gods to rectify this situation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tommy, what the actual hell? He showed up out of nowhere when I was writing. Of course he's alive in this universe, but I'm sure you might be wishing for his demise.
> 
> Did I answer all the questions you had with Oliver? Drop me a comment if I didn't get specific enough. :)


	9. Tommy Isn't The Worst Guy Ever, I Guess

Tommy Merlyn is a giver. He has a compassionate soul and a gracious heart that is probably two sizes too big (not in the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy way, but more metaphorically speaking). As Oliver’s childhood best friend, Tommy would visit the Queen home often, bringing expensive toys and treats, and the occasional trick up his sleeve (literally). It seems that today Tommy forgot to gift-wrap his offerings of gloom, despair, and irritation. Shame, he always did choose such pretty wrapping paper.

Standing in front of the door, Tommy’s arms turned limp at his side. He realized quickly that neither Vivian nor Oliver were about to throw themselves into his embrace. Tommy had always been affectionate, sometimes overly so, Quentin Lance will argue, but more than that- Tommy’s infectious joy usually made those around him eager to return his demonstrations of emotion. That was why if Viv weren’t so irritable by his unplanned arrival, seeing the smile run from his face and his posture change dramatically would be heartbreaking. The poor idiot didn’t know just how much he was potentially ruining.

Viv watched as Tommy’s stance changed once again, this time in surrender. It was like sitting in on a drama class where a seasoned performer was acting out rapidly shouted emotions. He now raised his hands, “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!”

Felicity appeared behind the group gathered at the door, completely oblivious to the tension she walked into. “Hey Tommy! I was wondering how long it would take you to show up.” She turned her back to the three at the entryway, making her way into the kitchen and throwing over her shoulder, “You’re so lucky! Oliver made chicken cordon bleu, and there’s plenty of leftovers!”

Oliver turned to his friend still standing on the front porch, “She invited you?”

Tommy’s face pinched up expressing his bewilderment. “When did I ever need an invitation to visit you?” He looked back and forth between father and daughter, noticing both faces were still carrying annoyance. “Is this _The Twilight Zone_? Or maybe even just _Twilight_? I’m not a vampire, okay. I’m not going to suck you dry once my feet get inside the house.”  To prove this, he sidestepped Viv and went past the threshold she once guarded. “See, no imminent danger. Laurel went out with Dinah and Sara for dinner.” Though Tommy might have been insulted at first, his quick rebound rate allowed him to shift conversations entirely.

“Tommy are you coming?” Felicity yelled from the kitchen.

The _intruder_ raised his eyebrows and formed a smug face. “At least someone wants me here.” He walked away leaving Viv and Oliver to stare at each other in disbelief.

“What are we going to do,” Viv asked softly in volume but deafening in tension.

Oliver gently gripped her shoulders, sliding them up to cradle her neck. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.” His tone and face calmed Viv significantly. Though he was just as miffed as she was that Tommy showed up on their doorstep, he seemed to be in control now.

“Tommy and I have been best friends for longer than I care to admit. He just needs some time, but I’m sure that he’ll catch the hint. Okay?” Viv nodded lightly, her father’s massive paws constricting her head’s mobility. He pushed her hair back before standing straight. “This is a good thing, Viv.”

She could understand his feeling of control…somewhat anyway, but saying that Tommy showing up unannounced and ruining his plans entirely was a _blessing_ was ridiculous. Her skepticism must’ve been broadcast on her face as clear as a stadium Jumbotron, because he laughed lightly.

“It doesn’t seem like it, but trust me. I don’t want my relationship with Felicity to be something too strategically planned and orchestrated. That makes it sound like I’m tricking her or something. It’s bad enough that Thea and Sara,” he looked at her pointedly, “have been texting me nonsense. But I guess this is somewhat natural- interruptions of the Merlyn kind and borderline invasive little sisters included. That is how our lives have always been. Things won’t change later on because we’re together. We just need to roll with it. I can’t control everything.”

Viv sighed while popping her lips with the air released. “I guess you’re right,” she conceded, “but don’t you dare tell me that this wouldn’t have been so much easier if he just stayed home.”

Oliver gave her a face that could only be described as ‘No duh’. “That’s Tommy for you, though. And we wouldn’t have him any other way.”

Oliver turned to walk into the kitchen, leaving Viv alone to compose herself before returning to her family. She wondered just when the magnetic shift occurred, making Oliver the calm reasonable half of their duo, and her the high-strung anxious one. Who knew it was possible? She spent the last couple of days trying to whip his ass into shape, and God forbid she were to think about the years her family spent trying to get him to make a move. He was slightly bashful and standoffish with her at the beginning. How did he react to the constant badgering of his friends over the years? Probably in the same manner. If only Tommy were privy to her dad’s plan and attitude adjustment now. He would possibly be in awe of the confident Mr. Cool that just gave her a pep talk. “They grow up so fast,” she thought with a smile.

As Viv walked into the room she saw Felicity and Oliver casually sitting next to each other across from Tommy as he ate. Oliver’s arm was slung on the backrest of the seat Felicity was occupying while Felicity talked animatedly with a glass of wine in her hands. Just how long had Viv waited after Oliver left to rejoin the group? They looked as though they had been relaxing there for hours. She stopped at the table to grab a piece of bread and hopped on the countertop, observing adults in their natural habitat.

Tommy, much like Viv, was a fast eater. He practically inhaled his dinner, but refrained from any wine, surprisingly. “Normally a belch is considered a compliment to the chef, but I’m a classy fellow, so I’ll just send you over a glass of whatever Felicity’s having.” He dramatically waved Viv over. She obliged, but not without a brief look of detestation. “You rang, M’lord?” He smiled, happy that she was playing along. “Yes, now please send a glass of,” he trailed off, looking at Felicity to help him. She passed the bottle over smiling as he tried to read the label. “I’ve been drinking this stuff for about twenty years, and I’m still not sure how to order. It doesn’t help any that it’s all in French. All I’m getting is that it’s from 2005 and uh...” He scrunched his face. “Oh, I know some of these words.” Oliver chimed in finally stopping Tommy from reliving ninth grade French class. “No need to stress yourself out. I’m good without it. I’m more in the mood for ice cream.” Felicity perked up instantly. The comparison was terrible, but Viv was reminded of when Sara and Nyssa’s dog, DOG (pronounced as Diogi, and please don’t ask them why) is asked if he wants to go for a walk.

“That new place on Maple and Sixth just opened,” she said turning towards Oliver with wide eyes. She looked back at Tommy realizing he was the one she needed to amp up the enthusiasm for. Oliver already suggested ice cream, he could be persuaded to stop anywhere now. Especially for Felicity. “We can sit in the park with the fairy lights to eat, and it’s such a beautiful night!”

Tommy smiled softly, making brief eye contact with Oliver before averting his gaze to Felicity. “I think I’ll pass, I’m so stuffed. You guys will have to go without me.”

Felicity was disappointed, most likely only because her sales pitch didn’t work. “Me and Viv will have to eat your share then.” She looked towards Viv who was still sitting next to the stove. “We’re not plopping a spoonful on the ground this time, missy. This isn’t a ‘pour some out’ household. We don’t waste ice cream or booze.”

Tommy’s sharp gaze told Viv that he knew exactly what was happening. Well, probably not exactly, but he was clever enough to realize that Oliver and Felicity needed to be alone. He must have seen the shift in Oliver and was trying to tell Viv on the sly that she needed to make up an excuse to stay home. Puhleaze. As if she was the one who was sitting unwanted in the house.

“I hate to say this, but I can’t go.” Viv pulled her best tortured soul look. “Tomorrow is prom, and I still have to write my speech for Friday. That leaves today and Thursday.”

Felicity smiled, “Our little procrastinator. What would the school say if they knew their valedictorian waited two days before graduation to write her speech?”

Oliver rubbed Felicity’s shoulder clearly pleased by the possessive ‘our’ when talking about Viv. “I think they’re probably more surprised that there’s a Queen who didn’t need to buy a wing of the library to graduate.”

“Wait, wait, wait, what’s this about a prom?”

“Did I not do the air quotes? It’s a ‘prom’, but really it’s just a dinner and dancing in a room next to all of our parents who will also spend the night eating dinner and dancing. So lame.”

Tommy pouted at Oliver. “Why didn’t we get that?”

Viv answered for her father, “Because no doubt somebody would’ve gotten pregnant. Starling Academy isn’t so keen on having their graduates enter high school looking like they were smuggling basketballs under their uniforms.”

Felicity tried to subtly check her watch, but Viv caught her. “What time does it close Felicity?”

Viv watched her blush slightly at being caught. Felicity didn’t want to seem rude while Tommy was still over, which he laughed off. “Just go! Me and Viv will chill for a bit. Is it okay if I leave her alone?”

Viv hopped off the counter. “I’m right here, and it’s fine. The leaving me home alone bit, not the part where you talk over me."

Tommy inhaled through his teeth and pulled his head towards his chest. “Sorry Viv. You kids go, though. I need to digest a bit before I go home, and I wouldn’t want Felicity to miss out on her mint chocolate chip.”

Felicity smiled and went to get her shoes and purse. As soon as she left, Tommy stood up and clapped Oliver on the back.

“Godspeed, buddy. I’m sorry for not calling, but how the hell could I know that your balls finally dropped?”

Behind them Viv piped up, “Totally unnecessary. Can we leave all testicular discussions for when the kid is asleep?”

Oliver had a light blush on his face, but wasn’t showing the typical bashful look he normally sported with any Felicity talk. He just looked eager and excited.

Before he could respond, Felicity came back with a broad smile. “You ready?”

He mirrored her smile with a deep one of his own, “Absolutely.”

When they walked out the door, Viv and Tommy ran to the window watching them make their way to the car. Oliver opened her door for her before getting himself in.

“Can you pinch me,” Tommy playfully asked.

Viv kept her concentration on the couple now driving away. “Only if you’ll give me one. Holy crap is it really happening?

Tommy turned towards her. “When did all of this go down? I haven’t seen him since before LA, I come over and the two of them are going on a date.”

Viv patted his head patronizingly. “I had a discussion with him and he realized that he needs her. Wasn’t too difficult really. No mistletoe or wine spills necessary.”

“You caught onto those, huh?”

Viv scoffed. These adults were real airheads. She promised that if she were lucky enough to have this plan work out in her favor, she would never treat her hypothetical siblings like idiots. “I have can both see and hear. The only ones who missed your subtlety just left to have a ‘define the relationship’ conversation in large thanks to me. You’re welcome. It was supposed to happen about fourty five minutes ago, but someone just showed up on a doorstep.”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “How the hell was I supposed to know, Viv? It’s been years of the same bullshit!”

“Doesn’t matter. Just remember me in your best man speech, yeah?” She gave a light smile, imagining the possibilities of a wedding.

He laughed lightly. “Sure thing, Viv.”

They sat on the couch, saying nothing, but in awe of the possibility of everything. Tommy’s phone buzzed loudly in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a text message. “Laurel just got home. I’m gonna head out. She’s not going to believe me about this.”

He stood up and collected his jacket from the chair he occupied at the kitchen table. He gave Viv a quick kiss on the forehead before making his way to the door and stopping sharply. Viv hated the face that turned towards her.

“You might want to make yourself sparse when they come back. There’s two ways this can turn out: either really good, or really bad, and I don’t think you want to be around for either of them.”

Viv stood dumbfounded. She never gave any thought to what would happen if Oliver didn’t succeed in his attempts to convince Felicity his feelings were real. She went on thinking that the best case scenario was the only possible scenario. Despite Tommy’s intrusion, Oliver was super calm. He was confident, and upbeat, and so damn hopeful, that she couldn’t imagine Felicity not believing him and following her heart.

Tommy gave her another kiss. “Don’t worry about it, though. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

He closed the door behind him, leaving Viv there to contemplate everything she thought she believed. She briefly wondered if maybe she was wrong about being left unattended now that she was alone with only her increasingly distressing thoughts to give her company.

A few paces in her bedroom with a metal station blared as white noise for thinking led her to a sense of peace. When she was convincing Oliver about arguments for making a move on Felicity, she brought up the fact that they were best friends above anything else. They cared for each other deeply enough to survive whatever was thrown at them. She didn’t have to worry about Felicity whipping back home and packing her things away with the intention of leaving and never looking back. God, it was terrifying that if it didn’t work out, she would one day be packing, but not ever in a rage.

Once Viv calmed herself down, she opened her notebook up to begin writing some speech ideas. She wasn’t completely lying when she said she couldn’t go for ice cream because she had writing to complete. The best lies do, after all, hold some essence of the truth.

She decided to lay in bed jotting down some phrases about transitioning into a new school and a new stage of life. Before she knew it was happening, she passed out with her notebook still on her chest and a pen in hand.

If Viv weren’t so deeply asleep when the pair got home, she would’ve felt Felicity’s hands plucking the writing equipment from her grasp and Oliver’s arms tucking her below her sheets. She would’ve heard the sweet way each wished her sweet dreams, or felt the kisses they left on her temple.

If Viv were awake, however, she would’ve prayed for a quick and intense sleep to overtake her so that she wouldn’t have to think about the ridiculously feminine giggle in the hallway or the sound of only Oliver’s door closing that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH SWEET MOTHER OF PEARL! They are getting it on, as a clarification.
> 
> I know that the conversation between Oliver and Felicity is something that many people wanted to witness, but this is a Viv central story for now. I plan on adding additional chapters with POVs from both Oliver and Felicity, but not until this story is done (maybe one or two more chapters). I know that the conversation is something that needs to be shown, but I was wondering if any other scenes needed to take place from the POV of another character(s) [the Defining the Relationship one will most likely include both so that I don't have to write the same thing (basically) twice]. I'm sure I could go over every chapter from the POV of Oliver or Felicity, but I don't know if you guys might feel that's too repetitive and redundant and repetitive and redundant. Then I'd have to wonder if I should make those their own works in entirety, or to just add it to this story as new chapters. On one hand it's all in the same place, so anyone who's interested could find it easily, but on the other hand, they are their own stories (you feel me?). IDK. If you bothered to read this hapless rambling and can offer advice, I'd appreciate the guidance. :) 
> 
> Also shout out to Saint-Saëns' _Le Carnaval des Animaux_ , and Holst's _The Planets_ that offered some background noise when my house was ridiculously quiet.


	10. In Which Viv Can't Place a Finger and Oliver Can't Stop Placing Fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the paraphrased and bastardized words of Timbaland in “Try Again”, “It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you without a dope post to scan through.” I just googled to make sure those are the actual lyrics, and learned that it is actually a reference from Rakim & Erick B’s “I Know You Got Soul”. The sentiment still stands, I should have written more frequently. 
> 
> Also, this chapter is a bit short, but I just had to write something! Sorry for the delay and also the brevity!

Viv’s cellphone is one of her most coveted items, though it isn’t her device’s texting and phone call capabilities that keep her addicted. She can freely admit that she takes those particular features for granted. It’s something she always had access to and mostly underutilized yet couldn’t ever imagine being without. Her understanding of what it means to be able to call and text has led to many questions about how generations before her survived without mobile devices in their pockets.

What if your car broke down and you couldn’t meet up at the third lamp post at 5:30, Felicity?

How many unnecessary ‘Missing Person’ calls to the cops were made all because there was no method of communication, Captain Lance?

Or maybe even a question in general about how everyone wasn’t just a ball of complete and utter anxiety at the thought that an emergency could take place and being COMPLETELY FRICKING ALONE IN THE WORLD?!

Despite Viv’s somewhat jaded feelings towards cellphones, she has great deal of respect for the original cellular device- you can still find her expressing a great deal of dislike toward an incoming call through a loud groan because _really_ a text is more than sufficient 97.3% of the time.

She can appreciate the primitive cell phone and its main capability of calling another human being without being confined to a room, but truly, the most crucial part of her mobile phone is entertainment.

While it may sound trivial, the ability to Google any question that may pop up is _oh_ so satisfying. Once, while having a spirited debate with Nyssa over just how many movies Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan were in together, Viv was able to pop open a browser and prove it was both _The Fist of Fury_ and _Enter the Dragon_. The highly accessible power of a quick fact check, though fulfilling, only grants those dopamine inflicted emotions to the winner of an argument. There is one particularly embarrassing time that Viv sometimes remembers late at night about being proven wrong. She got her ass handed to her by Roy over an argument about Yoda’s age. It was a lesson learned about the harsh reality of eating crow.

One of the many stimulating advantages of a smartphone in today’s society is reading funny blurbs. Saved in Viv’s photo gallery is a screen capture of a quote that reads something along the lines of, “Childhood is like being drunk: everyone remembers what you did except you.” She got a small giggle out of it and sent it to Thea after a day of watching slightly embarrassing home movies including an unsupervised toddler Vivian and a bag of her aunt’s makeup. This morning, Viv would strongly disagree with that statement being restricted to small children and the inebriated.

Viv woke up to the annoying shrill of her alarm clock to notice that she was tucked away in her bed. Even if she was fully awake at the moment, she knew that she couldn’t pinpoint when she fell asleep. All that Viv knew for certain was that she sure as hell did not conk-out peacefully under her blankets and free of kidney stabbing pens. 

Everything was just slightly off and uncanny. It didn’t help that she had a bit of a nightmare during which she was booed off the stage at graduation while giving her speech. The speech that she should have finished last night in bed. The speech that now occupied more than half of her ‘morning brain’ as she dragged herself downstairs to the kitchen.

With groggy eyes and a hoarse voice she greeted Felicity and her father while slumping into her usual seat and promptly dropping her head to the tabletop with a low thunk.

“Oh, Oliver would you look at that? It’s her last day of eighth grade and she already has the high school zombie look nailed.” The morning was only getting weirder. It was Felicity’s voice that she heard, and definitely something she would say, but it just didn’t seem like it should have been said. It was unexpected while still ordinary. It made Viv feel like she was being left out of a joke.

Oliver laughed while folding the paper. “Our Viv was always ahead of the curve.”

Again, it was just slightly _off_. She wasn’t all that familiar with _The Twilight Zone,_ apart from that one time in fourth grade where they read the script for “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”. And also Felicity’s obsession with _The Tower of Terror_ movie playing every Halloween with Kirsten Dunst and that dude from _Police Academy._ Oh yeah, and she also rode the actual Tower of Terror in Disney that time.

What was the point of her mentioning all of _The Twilight Zone_ information she was acquainted with at 6:30 in the morning?  

While trying to sort out the immense amount of weirdness that was floating through her brain, she could hear Felicity and her dad talking to/at her in the background.

“Since you get out early today, you and I can have a nearly full day of beautification and pampering before prom. And I swear that just because I’m getting ready alongside you I’m not trying to live vicariously through you or relive my own prom. Although, I didn’t ever actually go to prom. Or any school dance, really.”

“Really? Why not?”

“Oh you know. I was all about sticking it to conventional high school Americana crap. That and I didn’t really have a date.”

Oliver chuckled softly. “I went, but I can’t say that I remember too much about any of it. It should be a new experience for me and I’m glad I get to share it with you.”

Viv groaned internally. It was all so typical. Felicity talking. Her dad being inquisitive. Not to mention the irritating flirting that would go nowhere.

The flirting. Why is her mind getting caught on the flirting?

“Well this more than pays off for not going back then. I’m going have the most handsome stud on my arm. Plus he’s going home with me.”

That was a bit brazen, even for Felicity. Viv heard Oliver chuckle and hum of approval.

That’s when the events of last night prior to Viv’s speech making attempts caught up to her. They went on a date last night, even if Felicity wasn’t one hundred percent aware of it. But it must’ve gone well if they were in the kitchen at this ungodly hour flirting like teenagers.

She nearly gave herself whiplash while raising her hear to stare at them. They had their lips attached to each other, oblivious to Viv and her shock.

She stared for a moment watching them kiss softly.

“What the actual fuck?”

That broke through their romantic haze. They turned to Viv, Oliver with a large and proud smile, and Felicity slightly embarrassed but still beaming out nothing but joy from the curve of her lips.

Her father spoke up. “Normally I would admonish the unnecessary swearing, especially this early in the morning, but I think I’ll let it slide this time.”

Viv all but scooped her jaw off the floor. “Damn straight! What is this?”

Felicity answered her this time. “Well you see, last night when we were getting ice cream we sort of got to talking about relationships and feelings and all sorts of stuff that, to be honest, shouldn’t make me feel this uncomfortable to talk about. But yeah. Ice cream and feelings. They usually go hand in hand. Especially mint chip. Which is what I had.”

Felicity got no response from Viv.

“So yeah. We’re kind of datin-“

Oliver jumped in, “We’re one hundred percent dating.”

Felicity laughed. “We’re dating. Now. So, yeah. That’s a thing that’s happening with us. We were kind of hoping you’d be a bit more happy about this.”

Viv could only shake her head. “I just don’t know… There’s a lot of emotions.” At Felicity’s somewhat hurt look, Viv hastily added, “Good emotions. Positive ones. I’m ecstatic, I just don’t know how to process it yet. I’m over the moon though!”

Felicity’s smile returned to her face. “I know the feeling.”

Oliver sweetly kissed the top of Felicity’s head which in turn made Felicity lean into Oliver, stretching her neck to get closer to him. That’s when Viv saw a purplish bruise on Felicity’s throat. A hickey. Her dad must’ve been beside himself last night and got a bit too amorous. Or he deliberately marked Felicity up. Either way, it was kind of disgusting. She clearly didn’t this idea through completely. People in love often leads to mushy gushy stuff ad well as the exchange of bodily fluids. She just hoped that stuff would happen behind closed doors and stay there. But seeing as how they are staring into each other’s eyes completely ignoring the minor across the table, it doesn’t seem like their private lives will remain much of a mystery.

“Okay, I love you both individually and together, but please oh please don’t make therapy a necessity. I’m not sure hosing you down would stop you.”

That got their attention.

Oliver put on what he probably thought was a straight face, but to Viv he looked like a completely lovesick dork. “I’m just trying to give you a typical childhood experience, complete with loving parents who don’t shun signs of affection.”

“Thanks Dad. I appreciate that.” She told him in the sarcastic tone that teenagers have perfected over the course of several millennia. “Also, points to you for being gross before I had breakfast. You can’t puke what you haven’t eaten!”

Viv stood and grabbed a plate from the counter, making her way over to the stove and the pan on it, serving herself some eggs. While spooning out a healthy portion, she saw her father nuzzling Felicity’s neck and heard a slight squeak.

“Okay, you guys are gross. I hope whatever beautification you have planned for later can cover up that huge hickey.”

Felicity’s hand flew to her throat with a gasp. Viv took her plate to the living room, walking away while hearing Felicity whine, “Oliver! Was that really necessary.”

Viv didn’t want to hear his response.  

It might have been gross, but it wasn’t completely unwelcome. It was just the often talked about honeymoon stage. It would pass. Hopefully. Viv wanted a sibling, yes, but she didn’t want to witness the conception.

With a brief shudder at the thought of what they might get up to in their spare time, Viv pushed the idea to the side, instead focusing on Aaron Sanichar and his weather predictions. She was listening to him throw out the dew point and other meteorological conditions when she heard Felicity’s twittering laugh from inside. Aaron promised clear skies, but Viv guessed he wasn’t aware that Oliver and Felicity were now together, bringing an influx of cloud 9 wherever they stepped.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes of No Importance:
> 
> Cell phones/internet- I remember back in the day (quite a weird thing to say for someone who is only 23) my family spent a good 3 hours trying to figure out what the dog mascot from Old Navy was called. We eventually had to call information for the number to Old Navy HQ so we could ask, but it is wild to think about having an unanswered question like that today. His name was Magic, BTW and it is noted in the Old Navy wiki page. Took me all of 12 seconds to rediscover it. I love having a search engine at my fingertips.
> 
> Steve Guttenberg - It pained me to write Viv only knowing Steve Guttenberg as “that dude from Police Academy”. What about _Three Men and a Little Baby,_ or _Three Men and a Little Lady_ , or _It Takes Two_? _The Big Green_ ring any bells, or for the love of God, _Short Circuit_? I have a bit of a crush on him. Nearly clawed my cousin’s arm out when I found out he was at the same Mets game I attended. We were in the same stadium, dude. We breathed the same air! But yeah. Viv only knows him from Police Academy because the child is odd.
> 
> Also, did anyone in the US have to read _The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street_ in school? I was horrified and intrigued with that story since I was 9.


	11. Viv and Felicity Spend Time Getting PROMpered.

It was abundantly clear that Viv was in another world. Of course, not much else can expected for a student in her last class on her final day of school. Instead of listening to Mr. Getty’s “profound life lessons” from his high school experience, she was thinking about LL Cool J. 

Now, twenty years ago it wouldn’t have seemed odd for a young woman to fantasize about the man who got female parental consent to engage in hand to hand combat, but it was 2016 and Viv was not having _those_ kinds of daydreams. L was on her mind because despite the half day dismissal, the clock just didn’t seem to move fast enough.

A few years ago Felicity, Sara, and Nyssa were having a _Jaws_ binge-fest. After watching the original trilogy, Sara suggested they pop in _Deep Blue Sea_ to end their night, a plan that Nyssa firmly disagreed with. While Nyssa sat pouting and Sara played with her hair smugly, they all watched the film. There comes one scene in the movie where LL Cool J’s character gives a great explanation of physics. He says, “Einstein's  _theory of relativity_. Grab hold of a hot pan, second can seem like an hour. Put your hands on a hot woman, an hour can seem like a second.” Viv, a fan of all kinds of learning, loved how a complex theory was explained away in two sentences. This led to a new obsession with YouTube videos of theories made easy. It also led to Felicity’s proclamation that she would love Viv no matter what path she followed in her quest for knowledge, even if it brought her to CalTech, the arch nemesis of the blonde MIT graduate.

LL Cool J’s explanation of Einstein’s theory was accurately portrayed today in class. It was a half-day, yet Viv felt that she had been there serving an unreasonably long sentence for a crime not committed. As she contemplated asking to use the restroom and just cutting from there, the bell rang. She gathered her backpack and ran for the hallway and  the nearest exit. She intended on not looking back, but she couldn’t help it. She cast one glance at the building , a quarter wistful the rest utterly thankful before she looked around for Felicity.

“Hey Miss High School, looking for me?”

Apparently the “refrigerator blindness” that Donna accused Captain Lance of having- an affliction that occurs when people are unable to locate items in front of their face, usually when searching for an item in the refrigerator- was very real.

“You look like you could be in a cheesy 80s romance leaning on the car like that.”

Felicity smiled brightly. “I thought I could do car commercials in Japan, but apparently my lot in life is to be the boy on the right side of the tracks. Now get in loser, we’re going shopping.”

Viv hopped into the passenger seat while Felicity made her way to the driver’s seat.

“Are we really going shopping?” Viv asked, throwing her backpack between the front seats and watching briefly as it landed on the floor behind her.

“Nah, I just felt it was the perfect opportunity for a _Mean Girls_ quote.”

Viv chuckled. “Fair enough. Do we have time to eat before we do to the salon or whatever?”

“Vivian, what kind of woman do you take me for?” Felicity asked feigning to be offended. “I learned the hard way that all this place has to offer is green stuff. Blended green stuff. Green stuff that they claim is a salad. Alcoholic green stuff. It’s not pleasant.”

“I’m sure that green stuff costs a lot of green stuff.” Viv smiled brightly, proud of her joke, while Felicity groaned. She put her keys in the engine and turned to see her blind spot before pulling away. The movement allowed Viv to see the spot on Felicity’s neck that had been bruised earlier that morning.

“I’m glad that hickey is covered up, by the way. If I had to see that all day today, I’m sure I’d have some green stuff coming out of my mouth”. Viv’s eyebrows were wiggling playfully at the opportunity to both make Felicity slightly uncomfortable and continue her painful ‘green stuff’ joke.

Felicity blushed slightly as her eyes stayed on the road. She cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. “What would you like to eat, Viv?”

It wasn’t the usual transition for Felicity. Something felt slightly off about the way Felicity tried to change topics. But Viv shrugged it off, choosing to worry about the more pressing issue of what was in her stomach. Or more accurately, what was not in her stomach.

“Would it be super weird if we got Big Belly before going to a ritzy place?” Viv was genuinely curious. Maybe greasy food wouldn’t be good because of facials and the oil not working together well, or something.

“Nope,” Felicity replied with a pop. “In fact, I was craving Big Belly like crazy all day. I was hoping you would want a burger!”

◊

When they arrived at the stylish beauty retreat house, Viv was taken by the calming interior. There were pretty stone walls and just the barest hint of sandalwood in the air. Felicity went to the reception desk while Viv followed behind her slowly, looking to find the source of the running water she heard. That quest was lost immediately when she noticed the receptionist running her eyes up and down Felicity’s frame in appraisal. Apparently in an opposite day type scenario, comfortable clothing like the yoga pants Felicity was wearing weren’t acceptable in an establishment dedicated to relaxation. Before Felicity could even give her name for the appointment, the woman behind the counter told her to, “Please take a seat. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Vivian’s irritation levels hit an all-time high. She was becoming more and more aware of the less than stellar way that many of Starling’s “elite” would treat Felicity. To them she was nothing more than a slutty nanny. This situation was quite a bit different, however. An establishment that was going to take her money would usually try to feign interest in her.

While the woman behind the desk clicked around on her keyboard, Viv took a glance at Felicity’s slightly annoyed and hurt face. She looked up at Viv and raised her eyebrows. “Calm down, little hothead. We’re not starting a riot at the front desk of a spa.”

“But Felicity,” Viv whined, “You’re just going to let her treat you like tha-“

The wicked witch of the waiting room interrupted Viv’s rant.

“Can I have your name?”

Before Felicity could answer her, Viv smiled haughtily. “I think my Daddy made the reservation under his name. Oliver Queen. We’re getting our nails done, a facial, and hair.” She then feigned confusion. “Or did he put it under your name?” She asked her blonde companion, before turning back to the receptionist. “Felicity Smoak.” Viv gave a fake giggle before looking at Felicity again. “Do you think you’ll change your name when you and Daddy get married?"

The receptionist’s face filled with panic as she picked up the phone next to her and quickly told whoever was on the other end to get their asses her as soon as possible. At least, that’s probably what she said. Viv wouldn’t hear her. No sooner than the phone hit the receiver did someone walk out to escort them to the back rooms.

Viv scoffed and said quietly to Felicity, “Wait ‘til Thea hears about this.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Yeah and how long do you think it will be before my engagement makes its way to the press?” She rubbed at her eyes while walking. “I can see the headlines now, wondering where my ring is, or how I am corrupting you to believe that your father and I are a thing.”

Viv ducked her head. “I didn’t think about that. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just have to do some damage control later.” She ruffled Viv’s hair with a smile. “I did get a kick out of her face though.”

Viv cackled. “She looked like she shit herself.”

◊

Felicity and Viv sat in the relaxing massage chairs while their toes dried, Felicity with a black base and silver sparkle top, and Viv with a lilac.

Felicity was quite visibly taken with the fern to their left.

“Isn’t it so pretty?” She asked Viv. Viv in turn examined the plant with a tilt of the head. It actually was a beautiful plant. So shiny and healthy. “We should get one. Dad would love it. It’s like the perfect shade of green that he’s always drawn to.”

Felicity laughed softly. “I like that massive understatement. ‘Drawn to.’ The man is just slightly obsessed with green. You know he wanted to name you Jade or Clover or something else green related?”

This was news to Viv. She perked up instantly. “Did he really?”

“Yeah, but then Tommy said Jade sounded like a stripper.”

“Leave it to Tommy to say that. When you’ve been to every strip club in the western hemisphere, you would be pressed to find a girl’s name that hasn’t been used as a stage name. Besides, Vivian was Julia Roberts’ name in _Pretty Woman_ , so technically I have a prostitute’s name.”

The pair laughed together.

“I wonder how many green names there are.”

Felicity hummed in agreement. “I like to find out name meanings.”

The pair sat in a comfortable silence before Viv spoke up, ready to go back to an earlier topic of discussion that made Felicity weird.

“Do you think that you’ll look up ‘green’ names if you and Dad have kids?” Viv noticed how Felicity’s eyes slightly popped out from her head.

“Um. It’s a bit early to think about that right? Isn’t it? We only went on one date. I shouldn’t be thinking about weddings and babies yet. It should be weird, it should be totally weird, but I’m not freaked out by it! I’m more worried about you.”

Viv was confused by Felicity’s fears involving her and was about to ask before Felicity continued on.

“We don’t want to make this hard on you or uncomfortable. This is all so new to us, not to mention the effect it will have on you. We want you to be open with us if this gets to be too odd. You don’t have to make jokes about the situation to try to tell us you feel uncomfortable-”

“You think that’s why I’m making jokes?”

“Your comfort and happiness is totally number one on our minds. And we can lay back if you want us too. I could even look into moving out if you think it’s too much, and”

“No!” Viv shrieked out rather loudly, or at least loudly compared to how quiet it was in the spa.

She managed to stop Felicity from her ridiculous speech.

“Felicity, there is nothing I want more than for you and Dad to be together. The only thing I’m worried about is how I’m going to make the transition into calling you Mom instead of Felicity.”

She saw tears well up in Felicity’s eyes. “Viv,” she started with emotion caught in her throat.

“Hey, it’s my turn to talk.”  Felicity nodded.

“I’m not making remarks about all that,” Viv’s hands gestured to Felicity’s neck area, “because I’m uncomfortable.” She paused.  “Okay, I mean kind of, but not because I’m upset with the progress. It’s uncomfortable because you guys are acting like teenagers and that grosses out majority of current teenagers who watch their parents. How do you feel watching Donna and Captain Lance getting all touchy feely?”

Felicity scrunched up her nose. “I get what you mean.”

“I’m over the moon that you guys are happy together. And if you move out, you’ll break my heart. I love you. You are my mom. I need you around always. Even if you and Dad didn’t love each other, I’d be forced to try and play match maker to keep you around. Or at least try my hand at a love potion.”

Felicity snorted. “Because in the history of fiction, love potions are never associated with terrible decisions.”

“Regardless of any of that, I’m happy Felicity. And my dad makes you happy. And you do the same for him. That’s a lot more than many kids my age have, and I’m super grateful. Don’t for a minute think that this new development isn’t something I’ve been dreaming of.”

Viv watched as a small tear leaked out of Felicity’s eye. She was quiet for a moment, looking at Viv clear affection.

Felicity finally spoke up with a small smile. “You don’t have to call me Mom, Viv.”

“Oh yes I do. How confused will my little brother Verne be when I call you Felicity but he doesn’t?”

Felicity gave Viv a ridiculous smile. “Verne?”

Viv shrugged. “It’s a green name.”

“Even without consulting your dad, I can tell you right now, your brother’s name is not going to be Verne.”

◊

Felicity and Viv managed to sneak home without Oliver seeing them. Viv was adamant that he did not see the final product until they got home and changed.

Felicity helped Viv slip into her pretty floral print dress after getting herself into her own gorgeous red number and the pair made their way downstairs.

Oliver, unsurprisingly, was not there when they walked down the staircase.

Felicity sighed noisily before telling Viv loudly, “And they say women take forever to get ready.”

They heard Oliver yell from his room, “Agh! Just give me a minute. Go back upstairs, I want to see you two make an entrance!”

“Back upstairs I guess?” Viv asked.

“We’re too pretty to be doing cardio, Oliver.” Felicity yelled while ascending the stairs.

The women went into Viv’s room and heard Oliver running down the hall and the steps.

“We’re coming down,” Viv called from the door.

“Not yet!”

“I’m going to be late, Dad!”

They decided to give him two minutes before they left, but only got to a minute and seventeen seconds before they heard, “Okay, I’m ready.”

They came down slowly to see Oliver in an expensive looking suit that looked cheap next to the million dollar smile he wore.

“Absolutely stunning.” Oliver remarked, eyes jumping between the two.

“These are for you sweetheart,” he said while sliding a beautiful orchid corsage onto her wrist.

“None for Felicity?” Viv asked jokingly. “How can she get the prom experience without a corsage?”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something,” he responded smirking at Felicity with an absolutely lecherous look on his face.

Viv held back a gag. “On that horribly disgusting note, let’s go.”

 ◊

Prom for Viv was as to be expected. The music was so loud and she couldn’t find her friends on the dance floor.

Overall, the highlight was most definitely the food. Or perhaps it was watching her dad and Felicity afterwards walking hand in hand in the courtyard on their way to the valet. They were smiling at each other and talking in low tones. It was a pleasant sight. Even if Viv would’ve been just as happy to hang out listening to music with her friends at an appropriate volume, seeing that Oliver and Felicity were happy made the night seem as though it wasn’t a complete bust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody remember this story? Jeeze. I'm sorry I took so long. It was so much fun to jump back in. Thanks for reading if you're still sticking through with this!
> 
> I'm really almost done, and then I have an idea about a little one shot about theme parks and Oliver on the single rider's line of a roller coaster before I do any other POVs from this little universe.
> 
> Anywho, hope you enjoyed it :)


	12. Viv Didn't Realize Just How Influential She Was.

Viv peeled her eyes open. Normally that idiomatic phrase is just another way of expressing difficulty to open one’s eyes. It may be used to describe a coma patient who woke up slowly to the sound of a heart rate monitor, and gained the strength to peel his eyes open for the first time in months. Or perhaps of a new mother who just barely peeled her eyes open enough to see her husband taking an extra bottle shift before returning to her slumber. In Vivian’s case the peeling was one of the more accurate descriptions of how she used her thumb and forefinger to separate her eyelashes that were still coated in mascara this morning- or rather- afternoon.

Viv is no stranger to makeup gurus on YouTube and their often sponsored facial hygiene tips. No matter who they are and what product they are endorsing, all can agree that sleeping in makeup is a cardinal sin- of which offenders are likely to be penalized with dirty pillow cases, clogged pores, and dare I say it- premature wrinkling. Normally Viv is very strict with washing and moisturizing before bed, especially due to her age and all of the excess oil that has decided to escape her body via her face. Aren’t hormones just grand? Last night, while one part of her body produced the lovely layer of face slime to mix with her makeup, another spiked her with a natural sleeping agent. The rocking and swaying from the drive home mixed with the soft conversation happening in the front seat (where her dad boasted to Felicity how he could make any of the courses they were served, and do it better) swiftly and successfully knocked Viv out. It was a battle Viv couldn’t possibly hope to beat. She remembered scoffing at her father when he opened the back door, intending to carry her to bed. From there she stumbled 3 times and almost walked into a wall, barely managing to make it into her room. Viv gave a slurred, “Good night,” to her closed bedroom door before somehow successfully stripping into her underwear and knocking out harder than any UFC match had ever seen.

Now that she was awake, Viv could partake in her favorite morning/afternoon/after a nap ritual: searching for her phone. It was for sure in her clutch, but did she bring it in with her? Is it still in the car? Did she drop it downstairs? All great questions that could be answered by actually looking around her room instead of lying in bed and darting her newly excavated eyes all over.

A familiar beeping sound alerted her to the general area of her phone. How convenient that she received a text in time with her “searching”. Where was that luck last month when she was nearly in tears at the park with Gigi Diggle? A simple text back then would’ve stopped her and her favorite little munchkin from removing all of the sand from the pit.

Viv slowly got out of bed and made her way towards her phone, grabbing her pajamas on the way and throwing them on. She unlocked the screen to see the text message she knew she received. She was expecting just one notification, but instead the little icon told her she had 265 new messages. Now Viv might be a likeable young woman, but never in her life had she received that kind of attention. What the hell had happened? Or more importantly, how did her phone battery manage to be on 36 percent after receiving all of those texts and not being plugged in for about 20 hours?

The most recent message was from Cecelia, so Viv decided to start there. She clicked her friend’s name from the list and proceeded to slightly hyperventilate.

Oh God. Felicity warned her about the ramifications of her big mouth running. Viv figured that maybe the worst that could happen is a blind item in an obscure trash magazine somewhere. Instead Viv had her inbox flooded with people asking her if they could come to the wedding. Stupid Lisa at reception and her judgey pants. Not only did she give Felicity attitude, but then she proceeded to blab to everyone about the little white lie Viv told. 

Sighing loudly, Viv plugged her phone in and responded to the woman responsible for 6 of the 265 text messages. Ever efficient, Viv decided to jump straight in and ask Cecelia where she heard the rumor from. It wasn't long before she got a response.

 

Viv cleared through some of her texts while waiting for Cecelia to message back. While the messages from random classmates and acquaintances bothered Viv to no end, she was most disturbed by her friend's texts. Cecelia was no stranger to the spotlight; her family was once referred to as the Kennedys of the West Coast.  While others might put an unnatural amount of faith in the gossip rags, Cecelia knew better. That means that if Cecelia heard it from somewhere, it must've been a reliable somewhere. 

Viv didn't get a chance to clear out many of the irrelevant messages from her inbox before Cecelia text her back.

 

So a code red then. Great. Her parents only got two days to date before the press got involved. They would never get privacy now, and it was all because she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

While wallowing in her pity tea party, the lesser version of a full blown pity party, Cecelia text her again.

 

Vivian threw her phone on the bed and made her way downstairs, but not before politely responding to her best friend:

 

◊

Viv walked downstairs, hearing a familiar voice talking with Felicity.

“Well, if it isn’t my niece, the dirty stay out!” Thea’s eyes were shining brightly.

Felicity gave a deep laugh. “She was passed out by one. Not exactly the poster child for wild clubbing.”

“So more Roy’s speed.” Thea gave a pat to the empty space next to her on the sofa. “C’mere. I love you even though you’re a member of the Can’t Hang Gang.”

Viv stretched out across the cushions and her aunt. “Is there any chance I can score some coffee?”

“Viv, you slept for eleven hours. How are you not a wild ball of energy right now?”

She rubbed her fingernails on her shoulder arrogantly. “It’s a gift. A genetic anomaly. A mutation, if you will. I’m an X-man.”

Thea grabbed Viv’s legs and pinched just above the knee, making Viv squeal loudly. Too loudly, apparently. From the den down the hall they heard a door shut abruptly.

“What was that,” Viv asked, wiping tears from her eyes and still trying to catch her breath. Viv was looking in the direction of the den, but turned her head quickly enough to see the look being shared between Thea and Felicity.

“Now that’s pretty ominous. What happened? Where’s Dad?”

Felicity was playing with her fingers. “Your Dad is taking care of some stuff right now. No big deal. Typical CEO stuff. You know, ‘A Day in the Life of Oliver Queen’ type stuff.”

Viv raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Anything to do with that tuft-hunter receptionist yesterday?”

Felicity winced, while Thea scrunched up her face. “Tuft-hunter?” Viv gave her a nod, “Yeah, like a social climber.” Thea didn’t look any less confused. “I want a perfect score on the verbal portion of my SAT.” That made Thea’s expression change. She snorted and whispered, “Nerd,” all while displaying a deep sense of affection. It didn’t take long for Thea to become confused again, however. “Okay but what are we talking about the receptionist for?”

“Because she was a vile woman and was being catty to Felicity.” Thea’s eyes passed between Felicity and Vivian. “What does she have to do with the press making up an engagement story?”

Viv crossed her arms in a huff. “The lady, if I can even call her that, at the spa was a major beyotch to Felicity. She didn’t know who we were, clearly. So I may have said some stuff about them getting married.” Thea just chuckled. “Of course you did.”

Viv looked regretful. “Yeah, but I just meant to make her feel like shit. I didn’t know she was going to make a big deal about it. And now my phone is blowing up with people asking me about wedding plans.”

Felicity gasped. “Are you kidding me?” Viv shook her head, sort of shocked by the fire she saw in Felicity’s eyes.

“Where’s your phone? I’m going to set up a block for you.”

Viv pointed limply up the stairs. “In my room charging. You can go get it if you want to.” She didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Felicity was lunging up the stairs.

Thea’s eyes followed Felicity until she couldn’t see her any more.

“Okay, good. Now that she’s gone I need you to tell me about this receptionist. Felicity was not being all too helpful. I don’t think she wants to make a scene, but we Queens know better than that.”

Viv rolled her eyes. “She was being atrocious. I could tell that Felicity was uncomfortable and just reacted and asked Felicity if she was going to keep her name or change it to Queen once they were married. It wasn’t the greatest of moves, but I couldn’t let Lisa feel like she was winning.” Viv groaned, “Does that even make sense?” Thea nodded. “I get it. You wanted to protect her from the assholes we both know want to tear her down.” Viv hummed. “That’s my Mama, nobody talks about her that way.” Thea kissed her temple. “I’m sure heads are already rolling at the Tranquility Falls Spa.”

They sat in silence for a minute. Viv chewed the inside of her cheek before asking quietly, “Tell me straight, did I fuck up big time?” Thea laughed, not at all aware of the distress Viv had been going through since seeing Cecelia’s texts earlier. “Not at all. Your dad is probably just taking a bunch of calls promising investors and board members that a wedding will happen soon. They love Felicity.” Thea pinched Viv’s arm lightly. “Good job, by the way.” It was Viv’s turn to be confused. “You got those two together. You called me at the asscrack of dawn the other morning with a halfcocked plan, and today we’re all responding to engagement rumors with phrases like, ‘Soon,’ and ‘Not too long now’.” Ever modestly, Viv shrugged. “I mean, apparently Dad text her that he loved her before I even started his plan, so am I really the catalyst?”

Thea rubbed her face while laughing. “God, I heard about that. My brother has zero finesse.” That was unexpected. How did Thea know about the infamous text message that almost sent Felicity for the hills?

“Felicity told me and Sara at dinner the other night. Mind you, it took a few glasses of wine, but we got it out of her.” Viv gave a slight snort. “Sounds about right.” 

A phone vibration caught their attention. Thea picked her phone up from the coffee table and proceeded to smile uncontrollably. 

“You know, I’m kind of miffed that you and Roy got back together on your own. You would’ve been my next targets.” Thea just stuck out her tongue while finding her purse and sleek leather jacket. “God I can’t wait until you start dating.”

Oliver picked the perfect time to walk back into the living room. “I certainly can wait for that.” 

Thea leaned over the couch where Viv still sat and stage whispered loud enough for Oliver to hear her, “Make sure they have a couple of kids before you really start to date. They’ll be too occupied with them to worry about whose motorcycle you’re riding on.” Oliver’s face showed that he was less than impressed with his sister’s ‘logic’. 

“Gotta run, bro. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” 

Before Thea could leave the house Felicity came down the stairs, apparently done with her mission. Thea shoved her phone in Felicity’s face and the two began to talk in low animated tones. 

Viv nodded her head in their direction. “What’s going on over there?”

Oliver grinned, obviously privy to whatever was being discussed. “I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say that maybe you’ll find out tomorrow.”

Viv lit up. “So like a present? A graduation present?”

“I knew there was a reason you made valedictorian.”

Viv shrugged, “I’m not so sure about that. I’m sorry I started the rumor mill. It was accidentally on purpose. That lady was making Felicity feel uncomfortable, so I wanted to do it right back. I didn’t know that it would cause such a mess. I’m sorry that you and Felicity didn’t get time alone before they got invol-”

Oliver gripped her shoulders. “Hey, breathe. We’re fine. And between you and me,” he looked to see that Felicity was still occupied with Thea, “I’m lowkey proud of you for sticking up for Felicity any way you could.”

Viv gripped Oliver’s shoulders. “I’m glad we’re having this heart to heart and that I am everything you ever dreamed for in a child and all that jazz, but please never use ‘lowkey’ again.”

“Deal. Now how do you feel about getting dressed and going out to play mini-golf?”

“I’m running in the shower now.”

“How much of a bribe will I have to offer for you to lose a round? I have a girlfriend to impress now.”

Viv scoffed. “You can’t afford me.”

As she went upstairs she heard Oliver call behind her, “Third wheels can’t be all that expensive!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to avoid the pictures for the texts, but you can't put emojis in the chapter! I was going to use a fake texting app, but it was giving me agita so I just text myself, because I'm not lonely at all. So yes, those are my unicorns in the background there. I was going to change my settings, but figured that Viv might totally be into unicorns, so they stayed. (read that as I'm super lazy and didn't care anymore).
> 
> I _think_ the next chapter might be the end of this actual story (meaning chapters that don't jump around in time). Then I'll just include some oneshot type things from Viv's POV in the future before swapping out for another character or something. Idk to be honest. I'm a disorganized mess who just realized that I have lukewarm tea I made a half hour ago. Thanks for reading :)


	13. Viv Walks Away From Starling City Prep Like An Action Star With An Explosion.

Anxiety is such a dreadful part of human existence. Somewhere there’s an astute professor pushing up his glasses ready to explain how anxiety is the key behind keeping our species alive.

Spare the lecture.

Apart from the 2.26% of time, where adrenaline has helped a distressed mother possess enough strength to lift a car from her child’s body, or a frail older gentleman lift an unconscious and buff man from a burning building, it’s useless.

Name one time where the deafening thumping of your heart, desert-like dryness in your mouth, or the intense need to shake and fidget with your limbs/extremities has ever helped you ask someone out on a date, or pass a test. You can’t, can you?

For the hefty 97.74% of times when you’re faced with anxiety and have excess adrenaline pumping through your veins, it is entirely unwarranted and makes simple tasks nearly futile. Except perhaps, maybe delivering a speech to an entire graduating class, countless alumni, faculty, staff, parents, siblings, and potential future employers is not strictly a “simple task”. But please, whatever you do, don’t try to clue the speaker in to how much is riding on them. It’s sure to make their worrying just a slight shade more frantic.

But Viv could do this. At least, that’s what she mumbled to herself when her class was lining up. And as they made their procession into the auditorium. Standing and sitting. While singing the school song. And even up until a half a second ago when she was called to the podium, she was still telling herself that she could do “it”. She stopped her train of thought before she could make various interpretations on what “it” was that she could do. Trip. Vomit. Stutter unintelligibly.

The floor creaked in front of the podium, the sound luckily not picked up from the microphone.

With one largely forced exhale, Viv began.

“Good morning Headmaster Trask, faculty, staff, students, parents, relatives, and friends. I’d like to begin by expressing my extreme gratitude to everyone here in attendance.

Headmaster Trask, you have watched over our revered establishment and worked hard to make Starling City Prep a home and for that, we thank you.

Our esteemed faculty cannot just be considered educators; their job title is officially ‘teacher’, but from the firsthand knowledge of what happens in classrooms, you can also successfully add ‘Zookeeper’ to your CVs. For going above and beyond your line of duty, as well as forgiving specific students who use clichés and most likely split infinitives in their speeches, we thank you.

The fantastic staff, of which we are deeply indebted to, can never be forgotten. Mr. Cherry is most responsible for homework being handed in on time. If it weren’t for him and what he refers to as his ‘Key Clique’, we would never be able to pop in an hour early and finish whatever paper it was we were procrastinating. My many years of science has also taught me that two feet of snow cannot disappear overnight without aid. If it weren’t for our staff, we would be unable to come into- on second thought, let’s just remember what we are thankful for.

Starling Academy Class of 2016, without you this event would not exist. We are here to celebrate ourselves and our accomplishments. Today is a day we look forward to our futures. You have made my days brighter. Without you all, I would be starved for social interaction, seeing as there was never time to hang out after school, between history packets and science fairs. Thank you.

And as for the people in the back who paid for everything and still managed to get the worst seats in the house, thank you for your investment in us. Just to be clear, however, our vale doesn’t depreciate when we hit 18. So please reconsider keeping us around until we are fully prepared to demonstrate our profitability.

I can imagine that the most abundantly thought term to describe today in each and every one of our minds is ‘bittersweet’.

Faculty and staff are all proud of our accomplishments, yet will miss the brightest and most proficient class they have ever had the pleasure of teaching. I specifically remember those exact words once used, so no trying to convince me otherwise.

We of course are excited to no longer share lunchrooms with recently potty trained kindergartners, yet we inevitably know that next year upperclassmen will refer to us as recently potty trained freshmen.

And our parents and guardians are passing tissues, filled with such immense regret and euphoria that their babies are growing up.

Change is necessary, yet terrifying. Change is what keeps us tossing and turning each night, yet what we find ourselves day dreaming about in class. It can be one of our greatest hopes, as well as a deep fear, but what we should be most terrified of inaction. It is easy to be complacent. There is no difficulty in maintaining the simple flow we drift through. We find ourselves avoiding risks just because we pessimistically believe that amazing results are works of fiction. Who says life isn’t like the movies? Logic and reason are handy, but placed next to determination and desire, they pale considerably. But what do I know. I’m thirteen and I haven’t even graduated from elementary school…yet.

You can call me naïve, or trite, or horribly clichéd, but I will still be a firm believer. We can make a difference. We can do anything we put our minds to. We are in control our own destinies. No matter where we go from here, whether your school has a high percentage of ivy league graduates, or an astonishing number of drop outs- it doesn’t define what we are capable of.

Class of 2016, be bold. But also remember that we don’t officially get our diplomas until next week, so don’t try anything stupid on stage.

Thank you.”  
◊

Surprisingly, the walk back to her seat was worse than the walk to the podium. Her hands were shaking with her printed speech while she took her seat. Viv tried to think back on if she got a laughing response at the right places, but she honestly could not remember. It was like a big patch of black blurriness in her memory. For the remainder of the ceremony Viv sat patiently for ‘diplomas’ to be handed out and to walk across the stage.  
◊

  
After tassels were moved and caps were thrown, Viv made her way to her, frankly, overeager family.

Viv doubted she’d ever been kissed or hugged this much in her life, all while giving her compliments.

“You were so awesome, Vivian.”  
“I’m so proud.”  
“I had zero desire to fall asleep, so you know you did great.”  
“It’s true and he didn’t even check his phone once.”

Viv couldn’t help the blush on her face. “Thanks guys.”

Thea grabbed ahold of Viv’s shoulders. “Are you ready to leave this joint? Because you have a present waiting for you at home.”

Viv turned to her father and Felicity, “Unless you guys have any more photos you need to take?”

Felicity laughed, “You’ll appreciate them one day, I promise.” Viv turned back to her aunt. “So how big of a present are we talking here?”

As Roy and Thea argued over the hints they were allowed to give with Viv sandwiched in the middle, Oliver grabbed Felicity’s hand.

“We raised an amazing kid.” He told her with a reflective smile.  
Felicity hummed in agreement. “It’s terrifying, really. They say the first one is the screw up. The rest are all raised on the learning curve of the first. Like pancakes. Viv’s batch one and she’s prefect. Does that skew our results?”  
“Honey, as a victim of far too many of your cooking disasters, I suggest we don’t use any food metaphors with any future kids.”  
Felicity lightly punched his ribs, muttering,“Jerk,” while he feigned injury.  
“Let’s go home and spoil that fantastic kid of ours hmm?”  
She kissed his jaw, scrunching her nose at the feel of her lips against his ridiculously alluring stubble.“Sounds perfect.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, it's done. Like not officially done, but I always intended to end with the graduation and Oliver and Felicity together watching their daughter be kick ass. 
> 
> I wanted to get this done before the Arrow premiere, but that didn't happen- so I didn't let myself watch it yet as a punishment. I just hope that I can watch it before I set off to NYCC, whoop whoop to anyone else going there.
> 
> But yeah, I always try to avoid writing characters that they themselves have to write poetry or a speech etc. In case it is not abundantly clear I was never a valedictorian. I made my friend in high school promise that she would use the term cupcake in her speech, but we got kicked out of school and shipped somewhere else, so those dreams never came true. 
> 
> You guys have been fantastic and I love you all to little bits. This is now officially completed, but I will be back for little updates on Viv's life as well as alternate perspectives. Plus, we need to find out what Viv's present from Thea and Roy is, don't we? 
> 
> :) 
> 
> Thank you for everything. I am eternally grateful!


	14. Oliver Has Literal Cold Feet

Socks are overlooked in the most atrocious manner. Oliver never truly realized how reliant he was on the truly reliable accessory.

Of course _now_ , when looking through his sock drawer in agony, Oliver could recount all the times socks had made a positive impact on his life. As a child the ever faithful white cotton crew-cut socks could have been considered one of his favorite toys. He and Tommy would run and slide on the always perfectly cleaned and waxed Queen Mansion floors. He remembered that no matter how much Raisa or his mother would complain, there was no way of stopping the duo from copying Tom Cruise’s _Risky Business_ moves, nor would a broken arm hinder their hockey games from becoming too violent.

As a young teenager his socks were dependable soldiers, helping him carry out his “special alone time”. As he grew older his socks (and wrists) were given a break. He had a reason to dress up and wear suits, which meant wearing the surprisingly comfortable dress socks. The counterpart to those dress socks was often stockings of the thigh high variety, of which he had nothing but compliments for, especially when Felicity paired them with garter belts.

Oliver would never forget the first time he saw a pair of baby socks. He was a bit shocked at the small size. Logically he knew that Thea must have worn them too, but there was something so shocking about seeing his daughter’s little socks and her tiny feet that would go in them.

Socks: functional, stylish, and most importantly- THEY ARE MEANT TO COME IN PAIRS.

Oliver continued excavating his entire sock drawer. “I’m going to kill him,” he muttered to what he thought was an empty room.

“No matter how hot I find Robert Downey Jr. in an orange jumpsuit and cuffs, murder is a bit excessive to pull off that fantasy.” Felicity chose that moment to exit their bathroom, toweling her hair.

His eyebrows raised significantly as he watched her move to their bed.

“Don’t look so surprised. You know I have always had a thing for him, it just lies dormant until he pops up again.” She was retying her polka dotted robe and verbally teasing him, causing his sock fueled rage to be put on hold.

He crossed his arms and stared her down. “Should I be concerned that he was on your mind while you were in the shower?”

Her brows furrowed, “I only thought of him as I was coming out of the shower and you mentioned murder. I was thinking about babies in the shower, actually.”

Any and all mentions of socks, murder, and Felicity’s fantasies revolving around other men vanished immediately. A slightly manic smile made its way onto his face. They briefly had a conversation on children which ended with both in favor of having more, but later. That was a few months ago.

Felicity realized what it was that she mentioned to make Oliver switch gears so quickly. She held her hands up attempting to stop his train of thought. “Slow down there. I meant baby as in Baby Groot.”

His smile morphed from just a tad frenzied to that of adoration. “You’re kind of a nerd. The _Spider_ _Man_ and _Galaxy Defenders 2_ trailers did a real number on you.”

She sighed loudly, as was expected when he purposefully messed up a movie title. To be honest he knew the name he gave was wrong, but he wasn’t 100% sure on what the actual title was. He would rather be wrong when he knew he was wrong than to try and be right but still get it wrong. It didn’t make sense when he tried to explain it to himself either.

“You know, it’s not a nerd niche culture when it’s a box office hit, Oliver. In fact, you’re a geek for not knowing what it is. How does that feel?”

He plopped onto the bed next to her, playing with the tie to her robe. She ran her \hands through his scalp. “And what was up with that devious Grinch smile when I said the ‘B’ word.” She paused briefly before trying to explain herself, as if Oliver thought she was alluding to her saying “Bitch” instead of following the conversation he was a part of not even five minutes prior. “I mean the ‘Baby’ word.” She sighed deeply, realizing her attempts to not say baby again were foiled.

Oliver rubbed her hand with the end of her tie, looking up at her face and smiling bashfully. “I thought you might be ready to bring up the baby conversation again.”

She chuckled. “Don’t you think we should maybe worry about getting married first, like we discussed the first time this topic came up?”

“Considering that the wedding is only a month and a half away and that it takes the average couple three months to conceive, I figured maybe you wanted to start trying now.”

Felicity was visibly shocked, but still managed to chuckle. He laughed lightly too. “I wasn’t actively looking into it, by the way. There were pamphlets at the doctor’s office while I was waiting for Viv, and you’re not the only one who has thoughts lie dormant until something sparks them up,” he mimicked.

She stuck her tongue out playfully at the gibe, eager to continue teasing. “We should take any ideas on babies off the table for right now.”

He didn’t recognize that she was joking until she continued, “I’m not sure how I feel about potentially being pregnant while you’re in the clink for murder.”

At the mention of what incited this whole conversation, Oliver looked back at his sock drawer in contempt.

“Who was so deserving of your wrath that you would jeopardize knocking me up?”

Oliver sighed deeply, “Fred.”

Oliver didn’t even finish saying the name before Felicity screeched, “Oliver!”

He leapt to the sock drawer, pulling out two mismatched socks. “He’s stealing all my socks! Should he still be doing that? He’s not a puppy anymore.”

Felicity opened the bedroom door whistling and calling for the infamous sock thief.

“Freddie boy! C’mere”

 They heard the jingle of his collar and the scratching of his nails on the hardwood. He jumped onto the bed where Felicity returned after calling him, eager to get a rub down out of her. “Daddy didn’t mean it, I promise. He loves you.” She told him while scratching just the right spot to make his leg jump.

 Viv caught the tail end of Felicity’s affirmations of love and adoration. “Why are we reminding Fred of just how much Dad loves him?” She asked, completely suspicious.

 “Your mongrel has been stealing my socks Viv”, he said in his sternest voice, yet negating everything he said by how lovingly he was petting Fred.

 “He’s just a little fella, Dad! You need to cut him some slack.” She made her way next to Felicity, looking her dog in the eyes.

 “Don’t listen to him, Freddie Mercury. You’re the greatest gift I could’ve ever gotten and Dad is just a little jealous, is all. He thought he would give the bestest graduation gift, but he didn’t. Auntie Thea is great at spoiling us. Yes, she is. You’ll learn all about it during Chrismukkah.”

While Viv sat on their bed giggling at the slobbery kisses, Oliver turned to Felicity. “So I have a sister who upstages me, a daughter who undervalues me, and a dog who steals my socks.”

“Ooh and don’t forget a fiancée who would break up with you while you were in prison.”

 He nipped at her jaw in retaliation. “Remind me again why I want to expand our family?”

 Felicity cuddled up to him. “Because we’re pretty remarkable and you’d be lost without us.

He smiled sweetly, nuzzling her nose. “I guess I will just have to keep you.”

 “Good choice.”

“I can remember a time when all of my choices were train wrecks.”

“But not anymore.”

“Nope,” he said kissing her temple.

“Hey,” she said now rubbing light circles on his stomach, “I hope that advanced choosing skill was used in buying my Chrismukkah gift. I only pointed out that XK17 processor a dozen times.”

“Oliver?”

“Oliver!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah. The only writing I've done since October is filling out birthday cards, and I miss it something fierce. I apologize for the rustiness of this little blurb.
> 
> This was totally inspired by my dog, Hendrix, Stealer of All Socks. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading & Happy New Year if I don't get anything done before then!


End file.
